Combat Sports Survivor’s Guide to AI

You wouldn’t train without a mirror. You wouldn’t spar without reviewing footage. So why are fighters still training without real data?

This is the comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about AI in the combat sports industry. Most people think that AI is replacing humans, it’s fraudulent, and evil. This article’s goal is to demystify what AI is and make it incredibly easy for everyone to understand. In reality, not all AI is the same. Some AI replaces people while some makes people better. This article’s goal is to shed light on how to use AI the right way.

What is AI? Artificial intelligence has been around since the 1950’s. AI is known as any computer system that simulates human thinking. This can be as basic as the ‘Text Suggestion’ button when you misspell a word in Google Docs or as advanced as Open AI’s Chat GPT. AI is an incredibly broad field with many different disciplines. The AI you fear is not the AI that’s changing combat sports. One replaces humans—the other makes them unstoppable.

In the last 3 years, there have been huge advancements in a specific field of AI called Large Language Models. This is the core technology that Chat GPT, Claude, and other AI have been built off of. The impact of having a technology that can produce text, reason, and simulate human thought patterns has been revolutionary for a lot of different use cases and fields. But in our focus for the combat sports industry we want to focus on what AI is directly impactful and beneficial for fighters, coaches, gym owners, and sanctioning bodies.

Motion and Pose Estimation AI is in a branch of AI called Computer Vision. This technology puts a human’s pose into the computer based on an image or video. A person can record a video of themselves and the computer finds where the ‘key points’ of their head, arms, legs, and joints are. Many companies are using this technology for sports today. Companies like Combat IQ use 2D pose estimation to detect fighters stance, strikes thrown, etc. Companies like Form Fighter use 3D pose estimation which takes the person in the picture, recreates their entire body in a 3d setting, and allows them to see what is happening in their entire body. Form Fighter can see shoulder rotation, wrist alignment, and much more because 3D pose estimation is more detailed.

“In five years, fighters training without AI will be like runners training without a stopwatch.”

Predictive analytics is a form of AI. Predictive analytics uses advanced statistical models to analyze data and give precise bets on outcomes based on previous data. Companies like Fight Matrix used AI for fight predictions and breakdowns based on past performances, trends, and fighter tendencies. Sports betting websites use this regularly to predict the most likely outcomes in sports.

AI – Generated content is where things begin to get tricky. LLMs (Large Language Models) generate text like a person. This has helped many industries, but the technology is being used to automate roles that people used to do (Software engineers, Copywriting, Journalism). The LLM itself is not bad, but product owners and entrepreneurs who are using it to cut costs and remove ‘middle men’ are using it in ways that serve their business interests without thinking of the long term impact on its effect on people. Combine that with advances in image generation (Leonardo AI), voice transformers (Eleven Labs), and other tools, you get people running elaborate scams with the technologies used. The AI itself is not bad but the context that people are using it is bad.

What smart entrepreneurs and product owners do is use AI to help people be 10x better than they were yesterday. Instead of using AI to remove copywriters, there are some entrepreneurs that build tools to help copywriters be more effective by catching typo, cross referencing phrases to different cultures, and making sure the text is impactful. The focus here is how the technology is used. For example, Form Fighter helps coaches by helping them gather data across all of their fighters, identify patterns, weaknesses and strengths and optimize their training with the data provided.

AI enhanced training is the future. Today fighters are able to get comprehensive feedback on their striking technique with AI. No matter where they are or what is going on, they’ll be able to have a coach in their pocket that provides in depth feedback on their striking technique. The future will look like having this technology available to review fights and generate data driven insights, expansion into grappling and BJJ, and deeper analysis on body tension.

Combat sports is one of the last sports to fully embrace data. NFL, NBA, and soccer teams already use AI and biomechanics tracking. The next generation of fighters will use AI to optimize every strike, learn faster, and make fewer mistakes. These AI-enhanced fighters will see technical improvements in months that take most fighters years to make. The coaches who integrate this technology into their gyms will be the new elite and will earn more for it. AI will help them scale their expertise outside the gym via social media and the gap between coaches who adopt this technology and coaches who don’t will grow fast.

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How can a fighter compete with someone who has a standardized, objective, and data driven way to improve every single strike? You wouldn’t train without a mirror, or without taking a video. Why wouldn’t you train with data and AI analysis? Ai is the next evolution of training.  AI in combat sports is here to stay and it will be an asset for teams who harness its potential and a liability for  teams that ignore it. What side are you on?

Julian Phillips

Julian Parker (Founder Form Fighter): Julian is leading the evolution of AI in combat sports, bridging the gap between technology and real-world fight training. As the founder of Form Fighter, he’s pioneering AI-driven analysis that helps fighters and coaches refine technique, improve efficiency, and gain a competitive edge. With a deep understanding of both striking mechanics and machine learning, he’s challenging outdated training methods and pushing the industry toward a more data-driven future.

His work has already gained traction among top athletes and coaches, and as AI becomes an unavoidable force in sports performance, he’s ensuring that combat sports don’t get left behind.

Follow his work as he continues shaping the future of fight training.