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UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Pettis
Curtis Blaydes
Curtis Blaydes
10-2 · USA
VS
Justin Willis
Justin Willis
8-1 · USA
March 23, 2019 · Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Heavyweight · 3 rounds
262.0lb
Weigh-in
266.0lb
Curtis Blaydes def. Justin Willis by U-DEC, R3 5:00
Performance
Round by round
SSTDKDCtrl
R1
Blaydes10/144/504:25
Willis0/00/000:00
R2
Blaydes8/92/304:39
Willis0/00/000:00
R3
Blaydes4/101/302:40
Willis2/90/000:00
Total
Blaydes22/337/11011:44
Willis2/90/000:00

Scorecards

Blaydes vs Willis

RdBrian PuccilloDerek ClearyRick WinterCommunity
R110-910-810-910-8.4
R210-810-810-910-8.1
R310-910-910-910-8.8
Total30-2630-2530-2730-25.3

Media (12 cards) · avg 3025.5 · 12 Blaydes · 0 Willis

Official cards + public consensus via MMA Decisions. Per round: Blaydes-Willis.

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
BlaydesWin probabilityWillis
79.0%21.0%
KO / TKO
45%
Submission
35%
Decision
19%
Expected fight time: 7.0 min
What drives the pick

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

Predicted outcomes
Blaydes79%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO38%48%
Submission27%35%
Decision14%17%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes28 (1537)act 22
Takedowns0.9 (0.02.9)act 7
Willis21%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO7%35%
Submission8%38%
Decision6%27%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes20 (1126)act 2
Takedowns0.1 (0.00.6)act 0
Combined totals~48 sig strikes~1.1 takedownsmkt —
How it ends
mkt —
R153%
R213%
R314%
Distance20%
Fighter props
Most sig. strikestie 2.1%
Blaydes
64.0%-189
Willis
+18933.9%
Most takedownstie 39.4%
Blaydes
51.8%-589
Willis
+5898.8%
Significant strikes — over/under
Blaydes
Expected: 28.3
28.5
Over 28.5
42.1%
+138
Under 28.5
57.9%
-138
03671
Willis
Expected: 20.1
20
Over 20
41.2%
+135
Exactly 20
3.2%
push
Under 20
55.6%
-135
02651
Takedowns — over/under
Blaydes
Expected: 0.9
1
Over 1
34.7%
+125
Exactly 1
22.0%
push
Under 1
43.3%
-125
035
Willis
Expected: 0.1
0
Over 0
16.0%
Exactly 0
84.0%
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 7.0 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
Blaydes79.0%71.1%+7.9-275
Willis21.0%28.9%−7.9+235

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
73.1Striking77.9
Willis +4.7
56.9Grappling31.3
Blaydes +25.6
Str/minStr accStr defAbsorbedTD/15TD accTD defSubs
Hover a point to see the values
BlaydesWillis
Tale of the tape
Ratings (Elo)
1573
Pound-for-pound
1570
1573
Divisional
1570
1505
Striking offense
1508
1499
Striking defense
1506
1521
Grappling offense
1500
1509
Grappling defense
1512
Physical
28 yrs
Age
31 yrs
6'4"
Height
6'1"
80"
Reach
78"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
Striking (UFC career)
4.17
Strikes landed / min
4.40
50%
Strike accuracy
60%
2.41
Strikes absorbed / min
2.92
55%
Strike defense
60%
Grappling (UFC career)
6.75
Takedowns / 15 min
1.26
56%
Takedown accuracy
67%
25%
Takedown defense
0.0
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.0
Form & résumé
63%
UFC win rate
100%
-1
Win/loss streak
+4
80%
Last-5 win rate
100%
60%
Finish rate
25%
Recent opp. quality
119
Days since last fight
112
Recent form (last 5 UFC)
Curtis Blaydes
  • LFrancis NgannouKO/TKO R1
    Close -2404mo before
  • WAlistair OvereemKO/TKO R3
    Close -2009mo before
  • WMark HuntU-DEC R3
    Close -1901y 1mo before
  • WAleksei OleinikKO/TKO R2
    Close -3001y 5mo before
  • WDaniel OmielanczukU-DEC R3
    Close -6401y 8mo before
Justin Willis
  • WMark HuntU-DEC R3
    Close -1104mo before
  • WChase ShermanU-DEC R3
    Close -29011mo before
  • WAllen CrowderKO/TKO R1
    Close -2301y 4mo before
  • WJames MulheronU-DEC R3
    Close -1401y 8mo before
Blaydes — win / loss by method
Record: 10-2-0, 1 NC

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
8 wins, 2 losses
W
80% of wins
L
100% of losses
Submission
0 wins, 0 losses
W
0% of wins
L
0% of losses
Decision
2 wins, 0 losses
W
20% of wins
L
0% of losses
UFC
5win2loss0draw1NC
WinsLosses
3 (60%)KO/TKO(100%) 2
0 (0%)Submission(0%) 0
2 (40%)Decision(0%) 0
Non-UFC
5win0loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
5 (100%)KO/TKO() 0
0 (0%)Submission() 0
0 (0%)Decision() 0
Willis — win / loss by method
Record: 8-1-0

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
4 wins, 1 loss
W
50% of wins
L
100% of losses
Submission
0 wins, 0 losses
W
0% of wins
L
0% of losses
Decision
4 wins, 0 losses
W
50% of wins
L
0% of losses
UFC
4win0loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
1 (25%)KO/TKO() 0
0 (0%)Submission() 0
3 (75%)Decision() 0
Non-UFC
4win1loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
3 (75%)KO/TKO(100%) 1
0 (0%)Submission(0%) 0
1 (25%)Decision(0%) 0

Profiles

Experience
Blaydes
Willis
8
UFC fights
4
73.3 min · 9.2 avg
Octagon time
47.5 min · 11.9 avg
12y 2m
Career length
14y 2m
UFC schedule strength

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

Blaydes
Willis
159W–50L · 76.1%
Overall
44W–20L · 68.8%
142W–46L · 75.5%
Wins
44W–20L · 68.8%
17W–4L · 81.0%
Losses
0W–0L
Non-UFC schedule strength
Blaydes
Willis
18W–6L · 75.0%
Overall
26W–11L · 70.3%
18W–6L · 75.0%
Wins
25W–11L · 69.4%
0W–0L
Losses
1W–0L · 100.0%
Distance striking
Blaydes
Willis
3.52
Landed / min
4.60
29.6%
Accuracy
57.8%
61.0%
Defense
63.5%
0.20
Knockdowns / 15 min
0.63
42.7%
Time at distance
75.9%
Grappling & control
Blaydes
Willis
6.75
Takedowns / 15 min
1.26
55.9%
Takedown accuracy
66.7%
25.0%
Takedown defense
0.00
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.00
94.0%
Control share
70.6%
Strike target map
Blaydes
  • Head72%(220)div 66%
  • Body15%(45)div 19%
  • Legs13%(41)div 15%
Willis
  • Head83%(174)div 66%
  • Body9%(19)div 19%
  • Legs8%(16)div 15%

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

Curtis Blaydes
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

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

Justin Willis
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

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