What is GOATMMAKER?
GOATMMAKER is a browser game where you build a custom MMA fighter by assigning real fighters' career abilities across ten attributes, then simulate a 16-entrant tournament bracket.
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About GOATMMAKER — How It Works & Game Formulas
Learn how GOATMMAKER works, the 10 fighter attribute ratings, matchup simulation formulas, and the story behind the game.
About GOATMMAKER
Hi, I'm Sean, an MMA enthusiast and aspiring game developer. I built GOATMMAKER as a fun way to settle—or perhaps inflame—the debate over who the greatest MMA fighter is, and which fighter is best at each part of the sport.
How It Works
Build a custom fighter by assigning one fighter's career-wide ability to each of ten attributes: Fight IQ, Chin, Cardio, Knockout Power, Boxing, Submissions, Wrestling, Speed, Kicking, and Footwork. Your completed fighter enters a simulated bracket, where the build's strengths and matchup details help determine how far it goes.
Fight Night is the daily challenge, with a shared tournament field for everyone. Exhibition lets you build and replay unlimited solo brackets whenever you want.
For a closer look at the matchup rules, read the matchup matrix.
Why MMA?
I love MMA because it gets close to the heart of what excites us about athletics. Many sports simulate athletic prowess through a set of rules and objectives. Fighting is more direct: it is a physical test between two people, and our instinct to understand who can win that contest is deeply human.
My Inspiration
The idea came from a few places. I saw web games where players built the perfect NBA team from historical statistics and tried to simulate a perfect season. I also saw a TikTok filter that people used to assemble their own GOAT fighter. The filter made for a good video, but I thought the idea could become a more complete and interactive game on a dedicated website.
Ratings and Game Data
The ten attributes represent the fundamental skills I think matter most in MMA and that can be reasonably expressed with a number. The ratings are my own editorial judgments. I have tried to be objective, but they naturally reflect my viewpoint.
Peak performance also matters. A fighter's ratings may reflect a particularly strong period of their career more than a later downturn. The ratings are game inputs for comparing custom builds, with enough room for players to argue about the results.
Building the Project
The main reason I built GOATMMAKER is simple: it is a game I enjoy playing, and I think other MMA fans will enjoy it too. Building it is also helping me learn more about coding, web development, game systems, and deployment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GOATMMAKER affiliated with Home of Fight or other social games?
No. GOATMMAKER is an independent project. While other platforms and social accounts have created fighter-building concepts, GOATMMAKER was built as a full simulation engine with a 16-entrant tournament bracket, desktop and mobile support, private Versus room codes, persistent Gym leaderboards, and fictional Moneyline odds.
How do ratings work?
Ratings are 0–100 career-wide editorial estimates normalized within each division for pound-for-pound tournament gameplay. Division and sex are normalized so any fighter can compete across eras.
What are the ten fighter attributes?
Fight IQ, Chin, Cardio, Knockout Power, Boxing, Submissions, Wrestling, Speed, Kicking, and Footwork.
Support the Project
If you enjoy GOATMMAKER and want to support its development, you can buy me a coffee. Feedback, questions, and bug reports are welcome at [email protected].
As an Amazon Associate, GOATMMAKER earns from qualifying purchases made through external product search links.
You can also check out my other webgame, ArtZoom.