UFC Leaders - Shortest Avg. Fight Time
Posted
11:00 AM
The first in our series going through the categories on our UFC Official Records page, this post deals with the record holders for the shortest average fight time.
What: This one is pretty self-explanatory. Take all the fighters competing since UFC 28 (the start of the modern era of the UFC), and look who has averaged the quickest fights among those with at least five UFC fights to their credit.
Why: This record is significant because these are the fighters that people love to see. They may not be the most technically proficient, they may not even win their fights, but win or lose, their fights are fast, action-packed, and punctuated by stoppages.
Why: This record is significant because these are the fighters that people love to see. They may not be the most technically proficient, they may not even win their fights, but win or lose, their fights are fast, action-packed, and punctuated by stoppages.
Who:
Who's Next: There are a few guys who didn't make this list, either because they don't have five fights yet or because they're just outside the top 10. With another quick performance, look for Brendan Schaub, Alessio Sakara, and Brian Foster to make their way onto the leaderboard.
The Breakdown: Most of the names on this list are not surprising to UFC fans. Guys like McFedries and Irvin made careers out of slugging it out in quick, pitched battles. The one that might draw some confused looks is Ken Shamrock. Keep in mind, though, that this list only counts fights from UFC 28 and onward. While Shamrock was involved on some long UFC fights (including two that lasted more than 30 minutes), all of those fights happened in the early days of the UFC. To keep the records consistent, we've established UFC 28 as the cutoff. If we take Shamrock's UFC career in its entirety, his average fight time more than doubles from 4:34 to 9:46.
The Takeaway: The first thing to note is that only two of these fighters (Shane Carwin and Frank Mir) have a winning record in UFC competition. The combined UFC records of these 10 fighters is 35-42, a 45% winning percentage. If you take Carwin and Mir out, the record drops to just 19-36, a 35% winning percentage. The natural progression of fighters means that they usually start out fast and then see their average fight time tend to climb as they meet tougher competition. For them to stay on this list, it usually means that instead of finishing fast, the tougher opponents are the ones doing the finishing. And no matter how exciting your fights, the UFC can only hang onto a fighter with a losing record for so long.
| Rank | Fighter | Time |
| 1 | Drew McFedries | 2:20 |
| 2 | James Irvin | 2:53 |
| 3 | Shane Carwin | 2:54 |
| 4 | Frank Trigg | 3:55 |
| 5 | Houston Alexander | 4:13 |
| 6 | Yoshiyuki Yoshida | 4:15 |
| 7 | Frank Mir | 4:29 |
| 8 | Ken Shamrock | 4:34 |
| 9 | Ryan Jensen | 4:38 |
| 10 | Manvel Gamburyan | 4:45 |
| ~minimum 5 UFC fights | ||
Who's Next: There are a few guys who didn't make this list, either because they don't have five fights yet or because they're just outside the top 10. With another quick performance, look for Brendan Schaub, Alessio Sakara, and Brian Foster to make their way onto the leaderboard.
The Breakdown: Most of the names on this list are not surprising to UFC fans. Guys like McFedries and Irvin made careers out of slugging it out in quick, pitched battles. The one that might draw some confused looks is Ken Shamrock. Keep in mind, though, that this list only counts fights from UFC 28 and onward. While Shamrock was involved on some long UFC fights (including two that lasted more than 30 minutes), all of those fights happened in the early days of the UFC. To keep the records consistent, we've established UFC 28 as the cutoff. If we take Shamrock's UFC career in its entirety, his average fight time more than doubles from 4:34 to 9:46.
The Takeaway: The first thing to note is that only two of these fighters (Shane Carwin and Frank Mir) have a winning record in UFC competition. The combined UFC records of these 10 fighters is 35-42, a 45% winning percentage. If you take Carwin and Mir out, the record drops to just 19-36, a 35% winning percentage. The natural progression of fighters means that they usually start out fast and then see their average fight time tend to climb as they meet tougher competition. For them to stay on this list, it usually means that instead of finishing fast, the tougher opponents are the ones doing the finishing. And no matter how exciting your fights, the UFC can only hang onto a fighter with a losing record for so long.