Explaining TPR: Volume IV - The Time Component
Among the six components that make up the TPR calculation, there are two that have a set number of points that are always shared between the two combatants. These are Time and Dominance. This edition of Explaining TPR will focus on Time.
In addition to being the first component we're discussing with a mandatory shared value, it is also the first with a variable weighting. Under normal circumstances, the Time component is worth a maximum of 10 points, split between the two fighters. This assumes that both fighters have attempted 20 techniques, the minimum number necessary to get a meaningful measure of Accuracy. If a fighter attempts less than 20 techniques (i.e., strikes, takedowns, guard passes, and submissions), Accuracy must be discounted as a portion of TPR and two of the other categories become more valuable. In the case of Time, the maximum number of points increases from 10 to 20.
The decision to make the default value of Time so low (it's tied with Method as the second-smallest contributor) was based on the survey we conducted. Time ranked last by a significant margin among the contributors to fight quality. The message seemed clear that fans don't really care how long it takes for a fighter to finish.
As it turned out, this was only true to a point. People didn't ascribe that much value to finishing a fight in eight minutes compared to four, or even 14 minutes compared to four. Where time becomes a bigger factor in assessing quality is when a fight finishes fast. There is a big difference in perceived quality between a fight that finishes in four minutes and one that ends in 30 seconds. For evidence, consider the explosion onto the scene of Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. The fact that he knocked out Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was certainly impressive, but what catapulted him in the rankings was how quickly he dispatched both opponents. The same can be said about Houston Alexander, and to some degree, even Anderson Silva. Being a very quick finisher will do wonders for your career.
The calculation works the same way whether the maximum is 10 points or 20 points. To start, the winning fighter gets five points no matter what. The remainder, either five or 15 points, get split between the two fighters. The principal between the split is that the winning fighter should be rewarded for finishing quickly, while the losing fighter should be rewarded for lasting a long time.
In a 15 minute fight, there are check marks every three minutes. So a fight lasting less than three minutes means the losing fighter gets no points, a four minute fight means the loser gets one point, a seven minute fight means two points, etc. The end-result is that a fight that goes all 15 minutes has the winner getting his five automatic points and the loser getting all of the remaining five points. The Time component rewards each fighter equally for doing equal work, i.e., not finishing the fight.
The Time component is adaptable for any fight that has a defined end-point, no matter how long. Fights with unlimited time (like the early UFC's) cannot be measured.
posted by FightMetric @ 12:00 AM
0 Comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home