UFC 105 Preview: A Statistical Breakdown of Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera

There's Only a couple of hours left until Randy Couture faces off against Brandon Vera in the UK, so here's a last minute UFC 105 post that might interest the stat geek in you.

Randy Couture (16-10):

• Has landed more ground strikes than any fighter in UFC history
• Lands 58% of total strikes – fifth best all time (min. 300 strike attempts)
• Lands 62% of clinch takedowns – 32 of 52

While primarily a wrestler, Randy Couture has also displayed a decent repertoire of striking skills, as evidenced by him landing 58% of total strikes which makes him the 5th most accurate fighter of all time. The average UFC fighter only lands 38% of them. Randy's accuracy with (Heavy) ground strikes? -- Much better at 68%.

Throughout the decade long UFC career of "The Natural", he has used his greco roman base effectively. While his success rate for shooting for the takedown is just 47%, he has done much better when getting opponents down from the clinch by getting 62% of those attempts. With those takedowns, Randy has landed 319 out of 467 heavy strikes on the ground, making him the all-time leader for ground strikes in the UFC.

Who comes in at second place? No, it's not Tito Ortiz. It's the current welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre, who is a close second. What makes this impressive, is that GSP entered the UFC with more of a striking base at 2004, 7 years after Randy Couture has joined the UFC.

Brandon Vera (11-3):

• Highest Power Strike-to-Jab ratio in UFC history– 72%, min 300 strikes landed
• Tied for highest Body/Leg Strike-to-Head Strike ratio in UFC history
• Defends 64% of takedown attempts

When looking at Brandon "The Truth" Vera's statistics, it shows how much unique striker he is. Joe Rogan always goes gaga for body shots and leg kicks, saying that people don't throw them enough, and true enough, the average fighter throws leg and body shot on just 18% of their strikes. Brandon Vera on the other hand, throws leg and body shots 35% of the time. He has also mixed up his targets as he is tied for the highest Body/Leg-to-Head strike ratio in UFC history. Who is he tied with? -- Anderson Silva.

While Vera likes to pick his shots, it is surprising to see that he has the highest Power Strike-to-Jab ratio in the UFC. What does this mean? While the other stats show that it's hard to predict where Brandon will throw his next shot, you can bet your money that it will most likely be a power shot. He throws power shots more frequently, or throws the least jabs, depending on how you look at it, than anyone who has ever competed in the UFC by throwing them 72% of the time.

The Verdict:

While Randy throws accurately with his strikes, most of them has been on the ground. Standing, Brandon Vera is clearly the better and more dynamic striker, but as evidenced by the stats, Randy Couture will be the better wrestler. In a match up like that, it is crucial to impose their will and be able to fight their own fight.

When Couture shoots, he lands 47% of his takedowns, when he tries it from the clinch, he'll likely take you down 68% of the time. Vera succesfully defends 64% of them, but will he be able to do so against a guy like Randy? Statistics can only go so far, and we will have to tune in to see the real thing.

HT: UFC.com