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UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Pettis
Anthony Pettis
Anthony Pettis
21-8 · USA
VS
Stephen Thompson
Stephen Thompson
14-3-1 · USA
March 23, 2019 · Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Welterweight · 5 rounds · Main event
171.0lb
Weigh-in
170.5lb
Anthony Pettis def. Stephen Thompson by KO/TKO (Punch), R2 4:55
Performance
Round by round
SSTDKDCtrl
R1
Pettis12/250/000:00
Thompson17/440/000:00
R2 · 4:55
Pettis20/300/010:01
Thompson30/630/000:00
Total
Pettis32/550/010:01
Thompson47/1070/000:00

Pre-fight

The model's read going in

The walk-forward model's call at the time of the bout — persisted out-of-sample, with no hindsight about the result.

Prediction
PettisWin probabilityThompson
57.5%42.5%
KO / TKO
38%
Submission
7%
Decision
55%
Expected fight time: 18.3 min
What drives the pick

Each bar is a feature's push on the model from the center axis. Red pushes toward Pettis, blue toward Thompson. Tap a bar for why.

Predicted outcomes
Pettis57%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO22%38%
Submission6%11%
Decision29%51%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes87 (50114)act 32
Takedowns0.4 (0.01.7)act 0
Thompson43%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO16%37%
Submission1%2%
Decision26%61%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes94 (54122)act 47
Takedowns0.1 (0.00.0)act 0
Combined totals~181 sig strikes~0.5 takedownsmkt —
How it ends
mkt —
R111%
R217%
R39%
R45%
R53%
Distance55%
Fighter props
Most sig. strikestie 0.6%
Pettis
46.3%+115
Thompson
-11553.1%
Most takedownstie 67.6%
Pettis
24.5%-307
Thompson
+3078.0%
Significant strikes — over/under
Pettis
Expected: 87.4
87.5
Over 87.5
42.4%
+136
Under 87.5
57.6%
-136
0110219
Thompson
Expected: 93.8
94
Over 94
42.0%
+136
Exactly 94
0.7%
push
Under 94
57.3%
-136
0118235
Takedowns — over/under
Pettis
Expected: 0.4
0.5
Over 0.5
25.9%
+286
Under 0.5
74.1%
-286
035
Thompson
Expected: 0.1
0
Over 0
9.9%
Exactly 0
90.1%
push
Under 0
0.0%
035

Odds are model-implied (no real prop market is priced for these). The “most” prices are draw-no-bet — a tie (for takedowns, usually 0–0) is a push, so each side is priced off its chance of winning given a result, while the % shown is the raw chance of landing strictly more. Drag a line in half-point steps: a half line (e.g. 2.5) is a clean over/under, while a whole number adds a third outcome — landing exactly on it, a push — so over, exact and under sum to 100%. On a whole number the over/under odds are draw-no-bet (priced off the decisive mass, since the push refunds), so the two sides stay mirror images rather than implying an arbitrage.

Expected fight time 18.3 min. Predicted-output ranges are percentiles of the model’s simulated fights: sig strikes the middle 50% (25th–75th); takedowns the wider 10th–90th, since they’re 0 in most fights so a narrow band would collapse to 0. Win-by-method = win probability × that fighter’s own method split: the model forecasts how the fight ends, and that forecast is divided between the corners by each fighter’s finishing record — UFC wins in full, earlier-career wins at half weight, as of fight night — reconciled so the fighters’ totals still equal their win probabilities and the methods still total the fight-level forecast above. “Equity” is each of those over that fighter’s win % — how they win given that they win — so a column adds to 100%, and it differs by corner. A fighter with no classifiable wins at any level leans on the fight-level split. “How it ends” is the model’s round-of-finish split. “Mkt” is the de-vigged market prop (consensus across books), shown for context, not as a betting signal; rounds & totals slots fill as that data lands. Percentages are apportioned by largest remainder, so each set adds to its total exactly and an individual figure can sit a point off its own rounding.

Model vs market
Final
ModelMarketGapLine
To win
Pettis57.5%21.7%+35.8+345
Thompson42.5%78.3%−35.8-430

Market % is the de-vigged (no-vig) consensus across the books that price both fighters; the line is the average across books with the min–max range in parentheses. Gap is the model minus the market in points (+ = the model rates that outcome above the market). Thin or one-sided markets are flagged or left blank rather than shown as a fabricated %. Shown for context, not as a bet — the closing line is the sharpest public price and the model trails it on average. For 5-round bouts the model splits its round-3+ finish mass into rounds 3–5 by the historical within-bucket rate, so the over-3.5 / 4.5 lines carry a model estimate.

Trait web
60.8Striking68.9
Thompson +8.1
49.5Grappling44.4
Pettis +5.1
Str/minStr accStr defAbsorbedTD/15TD accTD defSubs
Hover a point to see the values
PettisThompson
Tale of the tape
Ratings (Elo)
1584
Pound-for-pound
1611
1544
Divisional
1609
1522
Striking offense
1526
1493
Striking defense
1544
Grappling offense
Grappling defense
Physical
32 yrs
Age
36 yrs
5'10"
Height
6'0"
72"
Reach
75"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
Striking (UFC career)
3.13
Strikes landed / min
3.45
46%
Strike accuracy
42%
3.79
Strikes absorbed / min
2.51
53%
Strike defense
61%
Grappling (UFC career)
0.71
Takedowns / 15 min
0.41
44%
Takedown accuracy
45%
53%
Takedown defense
78%
0.9
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.0
Form & résumé
53%
UFC win rate
75%
-1
Win/loss streak
-1
40%
Last-5 win rate
40%
75%
Finish rate
56%
Recent opp. quality
168
Days since last fight
300
Recent form (last 5 UFC)
Anthony Pettis
  • LTony FergusonKO/TKO R2
    Close +2956mo before
  • WMichael ChiesaSUB R2
    opp missedClose +1559mo before
  • LDustin PoirierKO/TKO R3
    Close -1101y 4mo before
  • WJim MillerU-DEC R3
    Close -2351y 8mo before
  • LMax HollowayKO/TKO R3
    missedClose +2502y 3mo before
Stephen Thompson
  • LDarren TillU-DEC R5
    opp missedClose -15010mo before
  • WJorge MasvidalU-DEC R3
    Close -1901y 5mo before
  • LTyron WoodleyM-DEC R5
    Close -1402y 1mo before
  • DTyron WoodleyM-DEC R5
    Close -2002y 4mo before
  • WRory MacDonaldU-DEC R5
    Close -1152y 9mo before
Pettis — win / loss by method
Record: 21-8-0

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
10 wins, 3 losses
W
48% of wins
L
38% of losses
Submission
7 wins, 0 losses
W
33% of wins
L
0% of losses
Decision
4 wins, 5 losses
W
19% of wins
L
63% of losses
UFC
8win7loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
2 (25%)KO/TKO(43%) 3
4 (50%)Submission(0%) 0
2 (25%)Decision(57%) 4
Non-UFC
13win1loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
8 (62%)KO/TKO(0%) 0
3 (23%)Submission(0%) 0
2 (15%)Decision(100%) 1
Thompson — win / loss by method
Record: 14-3-1

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
7 wins, 0 losses
W
50% of wins
L
0% of losses
Submission
1 win, 0 losses
W
7% of wins
L
0% of losses
Decision
6 wins, 3 losses
W
43% of wins
L
100% of losses
UFC
9win3loss1draw0NC
WinsLosses
5 (56%)KO/TKO(0%) 0
0 (0%)Submission(0%) 0
4 (44%)Decision(100%) 3
Non-UFC
5win0loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
2 (40%)KO/TKO() 0
1 (20%)Submission() 0
2 (40%)Decision() 0

Profiles

Experience
Pettis
Thompson
15
UFC fights
13
170.2 min · 11.3 avg
Octagon time
182.4 min · 14.0 avg
19y 6m
Career length
16y 6m
UFC schedule strength

Opponents' records on fight night — toggle their full cross-promotional record vs UFC bouts only.

Pettis
Thompson
315W–75L · 80.8%
Overall
200W–59L · 77.2%
162W–38L · 81.0%
Wins
155W–45L · 77.5%
153W–37L · 80.5%
Losses
45W–14L · 76.3%
Non-UFC schedule strength
Pettis
Thompson
116W–70L · 62.4%
Overall
12W–9L · 57.1%
84W–57L · 59.6%
Wins
12W–9L · 57.1%
32W–13L · 71.1%
Losses
0W–0L
Distance striking
Pettis
Thompson
5.46
Landed / min
3.99
43.6%
Accuracy
40.1%
57.2%
Defense
68.7%
0.26
Knockdowns / 15 min
0.74
49.0%
Time at distance
75.3%
Grappling & control
Pettis
Thompson
0.71
Takedowns / 15 min
0.41
44.4%
Takedown accuracy
45.5%
53.1%
Takedown defense
78.1%
0.88
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.00
25.4%
Control share
47.9%
Strike target map
Pettis
  • Head67%(356)div 63%
  • Body22%(115)div 20%
  • Legs12%(62)div 16%
Thompson
  • Head63%(398)div 63%
  • Body25%(157)div 20%
  • Legs12%(74)div 16%

Where each fighter lands significant strikes (career). “div” = the weight-class average.

Anthony Pettis
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.

Stephen Thompson
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.