Hey fightbeat. Long time no see. I'm back for a reason. Gonna try a new kind of UFC prediction contest. For lack of a better name, I will call it the Ultimate Prediction League. But instead of being the usual prediction contest where we pick the winners of a bunch of fights spread out over different cards over a period of months and crowning a champion at the end, here’s how it’s gonna work. We’re gonna start with the next UFC PPV, UFC 146. Each participant will pick the outcomes of the 5 main card fights, with points given for picking the winner, the round, and the method of victory. The scoring will be explained later in this post. The person with the most points at the end of UFC 146 will be crowned the first UPL Champion. The person with the second most points will be named the Number 1 Contender. Then, at the next PPV, UFC 147, the champion will defend his title against the Number 1 Contender in a head to head matchup. All other players will compete in a ‘battle royal’ to determine the new Number 1 Contender for the next card, UFC 148. The winner of the title match at UFC 147 will defend his title against that night’s battle royal winner at UFC 148, and the loser of the title match will be entered into the next battle royal at UFC 148, which will determine the Number 1 Contender for UFC 149, and so on and so on. Simple enough? Good. Now…the details. *** The title match and the battle royal are two separate matches. If the winner of the battle royal outscores the winner of the title fight, that does not mean the battle royal winner is the champion, it only means the battle royal winner will challenge for the UPL Championship on the next PPV. *** The contest will only include numbered UFC PPV events. UFC events on Fox, FX or Fuel will not be part of the contest. *** Each contest will consist of the 5 PPV Main Card fights. Undercard fights will not be included. Some PPV’s are now scheduling 6 fights on the main card. In the event that happens, the contest will still only be 5 fights. The excluded fight will be decided at my discretion. *** I want to keep things as uniform as possible. The same number of fights each card. Only PPV’s. Only main card fights. Only UFC cards, no Strike Force, Bellator, etc. *** The contest will be open to members of Fightfanatics and Fightbeat. *** Players must PM me their picks by 9:00 PM EST the night of the fight. You can change picks if you want, but the last picks you PM me before 9:00 EST will be the ones that count. I will only accept picks that are PM’d to me. Picks PM’d to me after 9:00 EST will not be accepted, no exceptions. You are free to post your picks on the board, but unless they are also PM’d to me, they will not count. You can PM me on either board. On fight nights that I am home and in front of my laptop during the PPV, I will try to post everyone’s picks on the forum before or during the PPV. Just to state again, only picks PM’d to me will be counted. *** When the results are posted, please double check your own scores. Me messing up your score is entirely possible. *** I will not be playing the first PPV, just keeping score. In the event that I decide to play in future events, I will PM my picks to somebody to be decided later before the 9:00PM deadline, just to keep things honest. *** In the event of the championship match ending in a tie, the champion will retain his title, and the challenger will go back to the battle royal match the next PPV. If the battle royal ends in a tie, the top scorers will compete in a 3-Way Title Match the next PPV (or 4-way, 5-way, whatever, depending on number of tied players.) *** The scoring will be as follows. Picking the winner: 5 points (10 points if you correctly pick a draw) Picking the round (must pick the winner): 2 bonus points Picking the method of victory (must pick the winner): 2 bonus points Main Event fights will be scored double. There will be no bonus points for picking the round if you predict a decision, as that is obvious. If you predict a decision and the fight ends in a decision, you get the 2 bonus points for picking the method correct, but not the 2 bonus points for picking 3 or 5 rounds. All decisions (unanimous, split, majority) all count as a decision. No extra points will be awarded for picking the type of decision. So that’s it. Any and all comments, questions and suggestions are welcomed. TFK
What do you guys think? It is a valid point. Should I cut out picking the round and just go with the winner and method? TFK
I don't think it's luck to pick the round. this isn't boxing were there are 10-12 rounds. It's only 3-5 rounds.
Nice. Leave the rules as first stated. This is a good idea. Let's see how it works. Rather, let's see how you guys deal with the battle royale format as you try to get a shot at my title.
I would join, but for some reason despite having watched MMA since UFC 1, I am just not good at picking fights. My record in boxing picks is very good, my MMA picks are probably 50/50. I previously wrote it down as MMA being unpredictable, but it seems some people can pick MMA fights pretty consistently. Lucky maybe? :kidcool:
I'm in the same boat. I follow the sport closely and really have a decent understanding of skill sets and how fighters match-up. But I absolutely suck at picking winners.
MMA is definately much harder to predict than boxing. Too many variables and careers in MMA arent as established so seeing patterns is more difficult.
I completely agree. I think the 4oz gloves are the hardest variable to deal with. I would bet even Matt Serra didn't think he'd have a chance against GSP.
Picking winners correctly is perhaps the single best indicator of someone's understanding of a sport or rather someone's pick % with odds accounted for. The problem with these contests is that the sample size is rarely large enough and the penalty for being wrong is rarely severe enough to make these a true assessment of someone's understanding of the sport. That said, I'm going to win.
I thing you're safe Z. And not because Mike can't pick but because he DOESN'T pick if my old predicition contest is any indication. Can't win if you don't play. I will be shooting for another "Participation" award. I've got a room full.
Exactly how I feel, I'm more of a casual fan than you, but have still been following MMA for a long time. At least it's not just me :kidcool: