We made a fighting simulatOR not a fighting simulatION.. If 2 people PLAY like pro fighters would, it becomes a simulation. What I mean by this is that we give YOU control and then let the USER be responsible for everything your fighter does. Then we give you realistic results when you do it... This is a game for people who want to feel like they are in a fight (rather than people who just want to watch a fight).
If you put down the controller and the other guy doesn't, you are getting knocked out or submitted in a couple seconds (just like falling asleep at the wheel of a driving simulator would result in crashing). Statistically speaking professional drivers don't drive on grass and crash cars into walls, but a good driving simulator lets you do it anyway and gives you realistic results (like a busted front fender and a broken windshield).
if you and the other fighter, fight LIKE that pro athlete would fight, then your stats would reflect accurately. You become the brain for the professional fighter who has physical skills and attributes you can choose to use (or not use) to your advantage... If you fight like a guy who has no idea what he is doing (for example grab Cung Le and immediately go for a Takedown against Jacare) you will lose quickly to a guy doing the right thing (e.g. Jacare throwing a guillotine takedown counter on the way down)
Every takedown you don't somehow defend is going to end up with you on your back (if you put the controller down, every single takedown the other guy tries, is going to be successful, that's what no dice rolls mean), every in-range punch you don't move out of the way of or block or parry is going to connect. The "simulator" rationality for this is VERY simple: Professional fighters don't miss a stationary heavy bag.. Real fighters don't find it difficult to take down a stationary grappling dummy... and if you stand still and don't actively defend yourself, we TREAT you like you just unplugged your fighters brain... We don't play the game for you, you have to play it (and we don't let random dice rolls play the game for you either). So if you don't act like the brain (if you fall asleep at the wheel), then your opponent is going to be successful at whatever he wants to do to you, his speed and degree of success may vary based on the fighter he selected, but even a wrestler can punch a stationary heavy bag without missing it.
This is a VERY cerebral sport. YOUR BRAIN (as the gamer) is what is going to determine your stats at the end of the fight. The result is a game that you are in control of, it is not frustrating even when you lose, YOU lost, because YOU did something you could have done differently, YOU went for a big move and got caught, and the result was losing the fight (just like real life).