About

 

The Fight Scientist

 

Reed Kuhn is a Washington D.C.-based strategy consultant with over a decade of professional experience.  His background includes providing strategic counsel to leading global companies across a variety of industries, as well as experience in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture capital.  As a former scientific consultant for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), he supported research programs related to pushing the limits of human performance.

Reed’s foray into sports statistics began during his graduate studies when he mined data of National Football League team performance. In 2009 he began analyzing professional mixed martial arts (MMA) when he earned a research fellowship with FightMetric, the sport’s leading statistics system, and the official statistics provider to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).  As a Research Fellow he analyzed a variety of anthropometric and competitive factors to determine the underlying drivers at work in the sport, and began personalized consultations for UFC fighters.

Since 2010, Reed has served as a Strategic Advisor for Alchemist Management, consulting to top-tier athletes in the leading global MMA promotions, and earning the nickname “The Fight Scientist” from Alchemist CEO, MC Hammer.  In this advisory role, he performs analytics on fighter performance, including detailed data such as individual strike accuracy, timing, target and frequency, takedowns and ground game, anthropometric advantages, overall MMA fight trends, and strategies relevant to upcoming matchups.  Analytical emphasis is on the identification of trends, strengths, and weaknesses that may be critical to influencing outcomes.  Relaying this data to fighters and trainers helps refine strategy and fight preparation during training camps, and reveals insights into opportunistic drivers of MMA competition.

Reed is also the creator and author of the “Fight Science” feature in FIGHT! Magazine, and has been a writer and researcher for UFC produced televised content.  At Sherdog he provides the most comprehensive statistical breakdowns available anywhere for main events on numbered UFC events. At CagePotato he publishes graphical “data bombs” illustrating interesting statistics related to UFC fighter performance or macro fight trends. And during most UFC events he releases key statistical analysis related to fighter performance and matchups through Twitter.

Reed holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Washington and Lee University, a master’s degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia, and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, where he specialized in strategy and decision sciences.  He is the author of the upcoming book “Fightnomics: The Hidden Numbers and Science of Mixed Martial Arts.”

The Fight Scientist’s work can be followed at www.facebook.com/fightnomics and on Twitter @Fightnomics.