Dynamic Game Theory in Mixed Martial Arts
A recent article in Popular Science discusses how mixed martial arts (MMA) trainer Greg Jackson uses game theory to analyze his fighter’s abilities and decision making skills. Greg logs each fight by sketching out each punch, kick and grapple into a series of decision nodes and edges from one fighter’s perspective. After logging hundreds of hours of old fight videos and mapping the fight sequences, Greg thinks he has discovered recurring winning patterns. With this accumulated knowledge, he is able to better coach his fighters by analyzing how optimally well they are fighting, given their current decision node–from a game theoretic perspective.
Often when learning about game theory, we think of it as a slow, methodical, decision-making process. It is interesting to see dynamic game trees applied to such a fast-paced and seemingly chaotic sport.
The dynamic game theory sounds amazing, to analyze the opponents moves in advance. It’s is definitely beneficial for the player who knows it well.