What are total strikes in MMA?
Total strikes counts every strike a fighter lands or attempts, significant or not, including the short shots in the clinch and on the ground that the significant strike count leaves out.
How it works
Total strikes are the significant strikes plus every lighter strike the stat-keeper logs. At distance the two counts are usually close, because almost every strike thrown there is significant. The gap opens in grappling exchanges: a fighter holding top position and landing short punches to the body can pile up dozens of total strikes while adding few significant ones.
Total strike accuracy is total strikes landed divided by total strikes attempted.
Worked example
A fighter lands 38 significant strikes and 64 total strikes in a fight. The 26-strike difference is the short, lighter work in the clinch and on the ground. If they attempted 120 total strikes, their total strike accuracy is 64 ÷ 120 = 53%.
Good to know
Which strikes count as light is the stat-keeper's call, so total and significant strike counts for the same fight can differ from one source to another. Compare fighters using numbers from the same source.
Where to see it on UFCalendar
Get it from the API
The same data is served as JSON by the MMA Fight Data API. The endpoints that carry it:
GET /v1/fights/{id}/statsPer-fight totals for both corners: strikes by target and position, takedowns, control time.
GET /v1/fights/{id}/roundsOne bout with its result, per-fight totals for both corners, and round-by-round statistics.
UFC fight stats in the Fight API →