Apple Sports Steps Into the Octagon with Live UFC Stats and Strike Heat Maps
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Following a CarPlay expansion and a big World Cup update earlier this year, Apple Sports has just added another major category to the mix — this time for mixed martial arts (MMA) fans.
Apple Sports 4.6 brings live, real-time stats for both men’s and women’s UFC fights across the full card, plus round-by-round updates, total strike counts, takedowns, knockdowns, and even a heat map of strikes.
Much like it did when it added PGA and LPGA coverage earlier this year with appropriately grassy backgrounds, UFC stat cards are backed with the lights of the Octagon shining down over the fighters. There are also some unique visualizations to highlight recorded strikes by target, broken down into head, body, and leg strikes, which can also be filtered by individual round or for the whole fight.
The latest update to Apple Sports also adds even more to the already extensive soccer lineup, with the Chinese Super League, Russian Premier League, and Swedish Allsvenskan coming onto the digital pitch.
At this point, Apple Sports may be the most frequently updated app the company has ever released. Launched in February 2024, it’s already on version 4.6, and Apple hasn’t skipped too many point numbers along the way. In the 33 months it’s been available, it’s received just as many updates — and that’s not counting sub-point releases, which are more about bug fixes.
That’s basically one update per month, while most of those have come out to add new leagues, expanding the app from its humble beginnings. Apple Sports launched with support for Major League Soccer (MLS), MLB, NBA, NHL, men’s and women’s NCAA basketball, and Bundesliga, LaLiga, Liga MX, Ligue 1, Premier League, and Serie A soccer.
The NFL was conspicuously absent at launch, but there also wasn’t much use for that in early 2024; Apple promised it would arrive in time for the 2024 fall season, and delivered that along with an iOS 18 update that also added Live Activities, college football, UEFA Champions League, and Europa League support.
By early 2025, Apple had embraced NASCAR and Formula 1 racing, shareable game score cards, men’s and women’s tennis, and then went international and added Home Screen widgets following the release of iOS 26.
While CarPlay enhancements in iOS 26 brought Live Activities to the dashboard, allowing fans to follow the scores for games on the road, Apple also added two CarPlay widgets in April, in between embracing PGA/LPGA golf in February and the big World Cup update in May.
Despite the fast and furious pace of updates, Apple has managed to maintain the lean and mean design of Apple Sports. At launch, Apple services chief Eddy Cue said the goal was to create “an app that delivers incredibly fast access to scores and stats,” and he wasn’t kidding; Apple Sports has been accused of letting out “spoilers” by being too fast, showing plays and scores before they actually appear in the game that fans are watching live, due to broadcast delays on streaming and cable networks.
Sadly, Apple Sports remains an iPhone-only app, although widgets can be added to the Mac from the iPhone, and the iPhone app can run on the iPad to provide Home Screen widgets there. Live Activities are also supported on both platforms, as well as on CarPlay and the Apple Watch, although Apple Sports doesn’t run directly on the wearable.
