Alright, so today I’m gonna walk you through my little side project: simulating a fight between Alex Pereira and, well, anyone really. I’m calling it “alex pereira vs” for now, super creative, I know.
First off, I started by just grabbing a bunch of fight data. I mean, tons of it. Websites, forums, even some sketchy PDFs I found. I needed stuff like reach, weight, fight style – all that jazz. Cleaning that data was a NIGHTMARE. Seriously, different formats, typos everywhere. I spent a good two days just wrangling that into something usable.
Next up, the fun part: coding the actual simulation. I went with Python ’cause it’s what I’m most comfortable with, and I figured I could slap some libraries on it and get something working relatively quick. I started super simple. Like, each fighter has health and damage, and they just take turns punching each other until one of them runs out of health. Real basic stuff.
Then, I wanted to make it a bit more realistic. So, I added some randomness. Not every punch lands, right? So, I factored in things like accuracy based on their fight style. A striker would have better accuracy standing up, a grappler on the ground. I also threw in some “critical hits” – random chance for a big damage spike. Makes things a little more exciting.
After that, I got into the real nitty-gritty. I tried to simulate different fight styles. So, Pereira, being a striker, I wanted him to be more aggressive, throw more punches, and try to keep the fight standing. Then, if I put him up against a grappler, I wanted the grappler to try and take him down, control him on the ground, and go for submissions.
I also had to figure out how to factor in things like stamina. Can’t just have guys throwing haymakers for five rounds. So, I implemented a stamina system. Each action – punch, kick, takedown – costs stamina. If you run out, you’re slower, weaker, and more vulnerable.
I spent a bunch of time tweaking the numbers. Like, what’s a realistic punch power? How much stamina does a takedown cost? It was a lot of trial and error, running simulations, and adjusting the values until things felt about right.
To visualize it, I just made it print out a play-by-play. Like, “Pereira throws a left hook! It connects! -20 health!” or “The grappler shoots for a takedown! Pereira sprawls! Takedown failed!” It’s pretty basic, but it gives you a sense of what’s happening in the fight.
Now, the results are… well, mixed. Sometimes Pereira wins, sometimes he gets taken down and submitted. It depends on the randomness and the exact values I’m using. It’s definitely not perfect, but it’s a fun little project.
What’s next? I’m thinking of adding more fight styles, maybe some special moves. I also want to work on the visualization – maybe get a little GUI going so it’s not just text. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll have a fully-fledged MMA simulator. But for now, it’s just “alex pereira vs,” and it’s keeping me entertained.
- Data Collection: Scraped fight data from various sources.
- Data Cleaning: Standardized and cleaned the data.
- Basic Simulation: Implemented health and damage mechanics.
- Adding Randomness: Introduced accuracy and critical hits.
- Fight Styles: Simulated different fighting styles like striking and grappling.
- Stamina System: Implemented stamina to affect fighter performance.
- Tweaking Numbers: Adjusted values for realistic outcomes.
- Visualization: Outputted a play-by-play of the fight.
Final Thoughts
So yeah, that’s the rundown of my “alex pereira vs” project. It’s a work in progress, but it’s a fun way to learn and experiment with Python. If you’re into MMA or just enjoy coding, give it a shot! You might be surprised what you come up with.
