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FightIQ · UFC stats · Context facts · Does the smaller Apex cage change how UFC fights end?

Does the smaller Apex cage change how UFC fights end?

Since June 2020, 51.2% of bouts at the UFC Apex ended inside the distance (1,451 bouts), against 50.6% at other venues (1,847 bouts). Knockouts: 32.4% at the Apex, 33.6% elsewhere. Submissions: 18.8% and 17.0%. The Apex cage is 25 feet across; the standard Octagon is 30.

How bouts ended at the UFC Apex and at every other venue, over the same window.
Source: UFCStats fight results and referees (data snapshot of 17 October 2026), event venue and location from Wikipedia's List of UFC events (fetched 18 October 2026), fighter nationality and hometown from the UFCStats fighter records · n = 1,451 + 1,847 bouts · 6 June 2020 to 10 October 2026 · data as of 18 October 2026

The window starts in June 2020, when UFC Apex was almost the only venue (COVID era), and Apex cards are mostly Fight Night cards. Differences also reflect era and card level, not cage size alone. Correlation, not causation. Descriptive rates only. Correlation, not causation.

Descriptive only. This page describes past UFC results; it is not a forecast.

The two cages

The UFC Apex uses an Octagon 25 feet across; the standard Octagon is 30 feet across. As reported by Gulf News (2020), ESPN (2020), Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cage size is reported, not measured. The widths come from reporting in 2020. No source confirms the 25-foot cage for every Apex event since, and this page splits bouts by venue name, not by measured cage size.

UFC Apex · other venues

All bouts: 1,451 at the Apex, 1,847 elsewhere

Finish (any)
Apex
51.2%
Other
50.6%
KO/TKO
Apex
32.4%
Other
33.6%
Submission
Apex
18.8%
Other
17.0%
Decision
Apex
48.8%
Other
49.4%
First-round share of finishes
Apex
48.5%
Other
51.5%
Average fight time
Apex
11:00
Other
11:05

Three-round bouts: 1,328 at the Apex, 1,642 elsewhere

Finish (any)
Apex
51.3%
Other
50.4%
KO/TKO
Apex
32.3%
Other
33.2%
Submission
Apex
19.0%
Other
17.2%
Decision
Apex
48.7%
Other
49.6%
First-round share of finishes
Apex
49.8%
Other
54.7%
Average fight time
Apex
10:26
Other
10:21

Five-round bouts: 123 at the Apex, 205 elsewhere

Finish (any)
Apex
50.4%
Other
52.2%
KO/TKO
Apex
33.3%
Other
37.1%
Submission
Apex
17.1%
Other
15.1%
Decision
Apex
49.6%
Other
47.8%
First-round share of finishes
Apex
33.9%
Other
27.1%
Average fight time
Apex
17:10
Other
16:57
What counts. Apex means any venue whose name contains “Apex” (the UFC Apex, later the Meta Apex, with the smaller cage). Other venues means everything else (the full-size Octagon, including du Forum in Abu Dhabi), over the same window from 6 June 2020, the first bout in the data. KO/TKO includes doctor stoppages. Disqualifications, overturned results, could-not-continue and other results are left out of the rates and counted: 40 bouts. Across the whole record, 174 bouts could not be matched to a venue. Small samples. A group with fewer than 30 bouts would be marked small sample; none of the groups here is. Venues. Event venue and location were matched on the event date, allowing one day either side only when a single event fits. Dates with two UFC events were left out by name rather than guessed (133 bouts).
Credit. Event venue and location facts taken from Wikipedia 'List of UFC events' (CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); credit Wikipedia contributors. Source page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UFC_events, fetched 18 October 2026.
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