AI is having a heyday. With the rapidly decreasing costs of creating custom AI models, people are scrambling to tailor a wide variety of programs to meet seemingly any need. With the unlimited potential that we’re seeing from some of the most advanced AI of the day, it was inevitable that robots would enter the wide world of sports.
Before you get your hopes up; no, we don’t have a real-world Real Steel… Yet. But there are a handful of companies out there trying to do the next best thing and bring AI into combat sports to help athletes train, give viewers the next level of insight into the bout, and help oddsmakers and bettors make the most up-to-date calculations.
Power to the People
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that coaches and trainers have been eagerly looking to AI for help creating training regimens and evaluating a fighter’s performance. Major leagues like the NBA have been partnered with AI firms for years already to help coaches evaluate their players. But these days, athletes don’t need the resources of an entire national league to start using AI in their training and there is already software on the market specifically created to help fighters train.
Getting accurate data from a fight can be challenging. Sure, he hit the other guy hard but how hard? Luckily, one company has decided to answer that question finally. Jabbr, a Copenhagen-based startup, recently scored €685,000 to develop its DeepStrike AI system. DeepStrike watches a fight or training session and instantly generates stats for more than 50 unique metrics, from balance to striking speed.
But the team at Jabbr is interested in more than just raw numbers. Its machine learning algorithm doesn’t just analyze, it can also predict. By evaluating enough footage of a fighter, DeepStrike can predict what an opponent will do next and create specific training routines based on any adversary.
By providing real-time insights and delivering concrete metrics, Jabbr is aiming to level the playing field by allowing anyone to get the most accurate and customized training available. Traditionally, an expert coach has been a truly rare thing. The very best coaches can turn an average fighter into a champion and DeepStrike hopes to unlock that potential in every fighter.
Knowing When to Strike
If AI can accurately predict what a fighter will do next, how far can it go? Can AI be used to determine the winner of a bout before the first bell has even rung? Well, Combat IQ is trying to answer that exact question. The company’s proprietary “Combat Vision” AI system was built from the ground up, specifically with combat sports in mind, and the goal of bringing the same kind of data infrastructure that other sports have had for years.
The company trained its AI on hundreds of thousands of hours of fight footage, motion-capture performances, and key fight statistics to make sure that it has literally seen everything. With this level of insight, Combat IQ has been popping up on betting sites across the Internet and securing major deals with MMA leagues like Combat Global, which produces 30 events a year and broadcasts to more than 70 countries.
But it’s not just their AI that sets Combat IQ apart, the company has also come up with a truly novel use case for the blockchain. Every single kick, punch, grapple, or anything is recorded on the BSV blockchain to create an immutable record of all the action as it happens. This means that nothing can ever be altered retroactively ensuring that betters and operators have a perfect record of events. With that kind of technological backbone, Combat IQ’s AI system is capable of creating up-to-the-second odds on a staggering range of prop bets; something that was simply not possible before.
One other area where Combat IQ is interested is actually judging the fights. Unlike team sports (and many other individual sports), MMA doesn’t always have a clear winner. Sure, a KO or submission is a cut-and-dry affair, but a 5-round slugfest can—and often has—led to very controversial final calls. It’s not surprising, really. After all, who “fought better” can be a fairly subjective matter; but what if we could make it more objective?
By tracking and comparing quantifiable metrics—strikes landed, time spent in a grapple, etc—a fighter’s performance could be evaluated in real time as the fight goes on. Think of it like a quarterback’s Passer Rating in the NFL; maybe not perfect, but at least it’s objective. While this might sound far-fetched, there are people out there already calling for it; and not just fans, but some pretty big names including Karate Combat President Adam Kovacs.
The Final Blow
While we’re unlikely to ever see humans totally repealed as coaches and judges, giving humans the best tools around to do their jobs is a no-brainer. Companies like Combat IQ are only the first steps into what will undoubtedly become the new normal for sports, with fans getting access to a level of insight that even the greatest minds of the game would’ve killed for even a decade ago.