There isn’t a ton of sports-specific technology for MMA or combat sports, as James Kimball explained, but within the newly-launched UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas, the sports property is “testing out a few toys” and also weaving in bits of technology to enhance athletes’ performance and recovery.
Kimball is the Vice President of Operations for the UFCPI, a $14 million, 30,000 square foot facility designed to provide a suite of services for the 500 athletes in the UFC family.
“It’s a high performance training center meant to be a global destination for performance,” said Kimball, who added that the Institute is a “one-stop shop” for athletes no matter where they’re at in their training regimen.
“The tech is sprinkled throughout the entire facility.”
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Arguably one of the core technologies in the Performance Institute is its cloud-based athlete management system powered by Kitman Labs. The optimization software provides UFC athletes, trainers and coaches an analytical look at injury trends and performances throughout the sport, according to Kimball, but also allows them to engage in remote-coaching as well. If an athlete walks into the facility for a quick two-day session or a more intensive two-week pre-fight training camp, he or she can then take that information back to his or her home gym and coaches where they can then read the data. That remote-coaching element mirrors the UFCPI’s focus on digital and paperless, as Kimball explained.
“We tried to build an environment so that when athletes walk through the door, there is data being collected which they then can improve on their previous visits,” Kimball said.
“We’re all working cohesively towards one goal, which is helping our athletes.”
Through the UFCPI.com website, athletes can book their visit and engage in an initial remote consultation with the Institute’s Head of Performance around their goals and objectives. An in-person consultation will follow once a fighter first visits the facility to establish some baseline health and fitness points before entering into their program.
During an exclusive tour with UFC athletes around the unveil, UFC Vice President of Athlete Development Forrest Griffin told the group how the Performance Institute isn’t meant to replace athletes’ current coaches or teams. Instead, the on-site performance specialists, dietitians and UFC staffers are meant to teach them how to be healthy and weave the tech-based offerings into other elements such as strength training, conditioning, nutrition consultations and physical therapy, all of which occurs on the first floor.
Kimball explained that the UFCPI is currently testing Hykso technology, which includes a chip placed on hand wraps to measure strike quantity and velocity in real time. The U.K.-based StrikeCoach PowerKube also quantifies the force of a fighter’s strike and his reaction time, too. After engaging with the fighting tool, athletes can then spar for a certain duration and after each round, strike the PowerKube to identify the force, efficiencies based on training and the PowerKube’s impact on their overall performance.
Honoured to spend a week with @ForrestGriffin and the team at the UFC performance institute in Vegas to see the instal of @PowerKube #UFC pic.twitter.com/rF2O4lWp4X
— PowerKube (@PowerKube) May 15, 2017
At the UFCPI, when athletes enter the regulation Octagon, which is surrounded by 12 VICON cameras, 3D footage is captured for immediate play-back with coaches and trainers. An 84-inch touchscreen television and performance and analysis suite, as Kimball called it, both sit within arms length to maximize sparring sessions so athletes can integrate the information gleaned from the motion capture technology into future fights.
“It’s like a giant iPad,” said Griffin, who added that athletes can also view the tape off-site if they email it to themselves or use a thumb drive.
Also, around the Octagon is similar lighting to what normally would be seen during an official bout, giving fighters a more realistic perspective.
Science happening in the @UFCPI pic.twitter.com/EDUVsasIPY
— Forrest Griffin (@ForrestGriffin) May 24, 2017
To date, roughly 40 fighters have entered the UFCPI, which was modeled after the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. in addition to Manchester City’s performance campus and training grounds, according to Kimball. A year of “benchmarking” 50 facilities across eight countries was conducted to eventually land on the design and layout of the Performance Institute.
Kimball highlighted how Manchester City’s entire training facility is an oval, “spokes on a wheel essentially,” as everything is connected.
“It’s one corridor to strength and conditioning. It’s another corridor to the hydrotherapy area. Again, ours is trying to provide an environment where an athlete naturally and organically taps into all of the services that you want to provide,” Kimball said.
For example, at the UFCPI, hydrotherapy, cryotherapy and low-level light therapy — all for recovery — are situated off the locker rooms while the physical therapy space has a glass wall overlooking the strength and conditioning floor. The two groups can then seamlessly collaborate because of the close proximity to each other, with efficient and effective communication being one of the constant themes throughout the facility.
Additional health and fitness features include Omegawave for athlete readiness monitoring along with Polar to examine fighters’ heart rate and breathing patterns. It was important to have some technologies in place from day one, but moving forward, Kimball said the Institute will layer in additional ones to drive performance and recovery for its athletes.
“The programs being delivered to the athletes are done so cohesively,” Kimball said. “The facility really reflects our vision to build a cohesive, one-stop shop services for the athletes. And then we wanted to add the innovation and sports science piece to the facility as well. You build a nice, new shiny gym and the usage is free for UFC athletes to utilize. Part of what we’re trying to do is not just train and educate the current population for the sport but build a foundation for future athletes in the sport.
“Identify the most effective way to prepare for a competition when you are a 145-pound female versus a 205-pound male, and you’re coming off a specific injury. We’re trying to build the foundation for the future of the sport as well.”