Combat Sports Columnist
Adrian Blake
Adrian Blake writes opinion pieces and in-depth features covering MMA, boxing, kickboxing, and the wider combat sports industry.
Articles by Adrian Blake (7)
AnalysisThe Fourth Way a Fight Ends: Somebody Else Decides It Is Over
2.59% of all wins come from a doctor, a corner, or a fighter declining to answer the bell. The fighter pulls himself out more than twice as often as the men paid to protect him — and the towel has almost vanished.
AnalysisMMA Rematches Rarely Change the Answer. Time Is the Only Thing That Does
Only 2.2% of fighter pairings ever meet twice. Across the 11,035 rematches with a winner in both fights, the first winner wins again 67.8% of the time — but the gap between the fights moves that number more than anything else.
AnalysisOne Submission Owns MMA, and the Gap Is Getting Wider
The rear-naked choke finishes more fights than the armbar, guillotine and triangle combined. Thirty years ago it did not even lead its own category. The reversal explains how modern grappling really works.
BreakingMauricio Ruffy believes UFC 331 win over Arman Tsarukyan takes him ‘straight to the title’
Ruffy thinks beating Tsarukyan takes him straight to a title shot. The MMAHIT archive says the run that gets a fighter there is rarer than it looks: of 336,562 careers, 1,375 contain a ten-fight winning streak.
Anderson Silva: The Spider Who Made Violence Beautiful
2,457 days as champion, sixteen straight victories, and the strangest ending in title history — the full story of the greatest artist ever to enter a cage.
Fedor Emelianenko: The Last Emperor the UFC Never Owned
For nearly a decade no heavyweight on earth could beat him — the story of the quiet Russian who ruled fighting's wildest era without ever signing with the UFC.
Georges St-Pierre: The Bullied Kid Who Became the Perfect Fighter
From a tormented schoolboy in rural Quebec to a two-division champion with a 26-2 record — the story of the most complete fighter who ever lived.