UFCFighterRecSys

A recommendation systems for UFC fans

Rodrigo Araujo
Data Scientist

What is this app?

  1. This web app helps new UFC[1] fans find exciting fighters to follow.
  2. But what is the UFC anyways?
    • The UFC is a sport organization the promote fights all around the world. A UFC fighter is called a Mixed-Martial Artist, which consist of an athlete that dominates multiple fighting disciplines, e.g wrestling, jiu-jitsu, and boxing.
    • Ther UFC is considered the fastest growing sport in the world according to some media outlets [2].

How the app was created?

  1. In order to recommend fighters for the fans, it is crucial to gather the most information possible about fighters and fights.
  2. Since there is no standalone database of all fighters and fights of the UFC, I am using data that has been scraped from www.sherdog.com. Thanks to geyges who posted that on reddit.
  3. Here is a sample of part of the fighter table.
##             name birth_date height weight             class       country
## 1 Conor McGregor  7/14/1988     68    145     Featherweight       Ireland
## 2      Jon Jones  7/19/1987     76    205 Light Heavyweight United States
## 3     Holly Holm 10/17/1981     68    135      Bantamweight United States

How the app work?

  1. The recommendation is done based on the similarity of fighters.
  2. The app creates a list of fighters that has similar patterns of wining methods based on a previously selected fighter that you already like.
    • For example, let's say you like Ronda Rousey, she is well known for her nasty armbar technique. Since you like Ronda, it is infered that you like armbar techniques. Therefore, a list of fighters that has a high number of fight finishes using armbar is going to be recommended to you. The same idea can be used in the case you like a fighter with a high number of KO's using punches.

How to use the app?

  • First choose a fighter you already like using the drop down menu.

  • Once you select the fighter, a table with information about the selected fighter will be displayed on the main panel.

  • Finally, hit the go button to get recommendations of similar fighters.

  • Link for the app. https://sineco.shinyapps.io/ProjectUFCFighterRecSys