Professional sports talent exists in all corners of the world. It’s a fact that makes sports so great. The best hockey players don’t only come from Minnesota, the best offensive lineman aren’t all Iowa natives, and the top hoopers and ball players don’t always start out in a Chicago park. Talent can be found everywhere, but where do we find UFC talent?
This is a question that BetUS looked to answer in their latest research on the UFC and where the sport’s talent comes from. They looked at everything from international representation to fighter counts by state. Their study even dived into fighter performance and salaries by location. They discovered plenty of interesting things with their research, but how did Chicago UFC fighters fare? Let’s find out!
Chicago UFC Fighters’ Salaries
One thing that BetUS looked at were the salaries of fighters and how those numbers play out by location. At the top of the list were fighters from the state of California where their salaries total 6.7 million dollars. That’s a big chunk of change for beating someone up.
When it came to Chicago UFC fighters, or really all fighters from Illinois, we came in a four-way tie for the 10th highest salaries at 1.2 million dollars. The other states we tied with were New Mexico, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. To our surprise, fighters who come from our northern neighbors ranked second at $2.7 million. You could probably buy a lifetime supply of Wisconsin cheese curds with that paycheck.
How Many Do We Produce?
Quite a few actually. When you break it down by location, our city produces the 3rd most fighters in the United States, and the 6th most in the world. Currently, there are 11 Chicago UFC fighters in the sport, which is where the rankings come from. Only Houston and Los Angeles could top our count, with 12 and 17 respectively.
The 17 fighters from Los Angeles isn’t much of a surprise, as the data shows that there are 4.4 UFC gyms per million residents in the state. Comparatively, Illinois has 1 UFC gym per million residents. That certainly doesn’t allow for a lot of opportunities for Chicago UFC fighters to get some reps in the octagon.
What’s The Performance Breakdown?
The final thing that BetUS looked at in their UFC research was performance which was measured with win percentage. Now, it’s no secret that some of the top Illinois athletes find success in leagues like the NBA, NFL, or MLB. And when you look at our UFC fighters, the trend remains the same.
For our Chicago UFC fighters, these guys know how to win. They average an astonishing 74.1% win percentage, which ties for 5th in the sport by state. Despite all their UFC gyms, California ranks 7th in winning percentage at 73.9%. The biggest takeaway with this data comes when you look at the states by region, like the Midwest for Illinois. In the Midwest states, our Illinois fighters are the top dog by winning percentage. There was no surprise from us there, if we can handle Chicago winters, we can surely handle some punches.
Visit BetUS to read more about their study on UFC fighters and where they come from.