When UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva and former light heavyweight champ Vitor Belfort meet at UFC 126 it will unquestionably be a battle of two of the best Brazilian left-handed strikers in UFC history.
But other than that, they have little in common. Silva is a supremely gifted mimic who can seamlessly move from style to style in one sequence. Belfort is a boxing-based striker who throws some of the fastest, hardest straight punches in the sport.
CompuStrike looks at both fighters and the numbers tell the tale:
Here's their breakdown:
CompuStrike Notes
- (Silva's 12 UFC fights - 10 Belfort fights)
- Silva landed twice as many total strikes per fight than Belfort
- Silva landed 10 more leg strikes per fight, attempting 15 more per fight than Belfort
- They combined to attempt just 9 takedowns (Silva 5 of 6 - Belfort 2 of 3) and were successful on 7 in 21 combined fights tracked by CompuStrike
- Silva outlanded his 11 previous opponents 2-1 in total strikes prior to Sonnen fight
- Silva's 11 previous opponents were successful on just 7 of 33 takedown attempts, Sonnen hit on 3 of 6
- Sonnen landed 289 total strikes. Silva was hit with just 208 total strikes in his previous 11 UFC fights combined
- Belfort's last three opponents, (all at 195lbs or lower), were successful on just 1 of 11 takedown attempts (9%). Heavyweight opponents hit on 43% (12 of 28)
- Belfort threw 18 more arm strikes per fight in his last 3 fights (at 195 or lower) than in his previous 7 fights at heavyweight
- Belfort was on the feet for nearly 11:00 of a possible 12:00 in his last 3 fights (at 195 lbs or lower). He was on the ground for 56% of his previous 7 fights at heavyweight
They also point out that Belfort has been inactive for 504 days -- the longest layoff of his pro career. Cage rust kills.
The biggest revelation of the CompuStrike stats is how much of an anomaly the Sonnen fight was for Silva. Was he injured? Is he aging? We'll know a lot more on Saturday.
Two other stats I want to mention FightMetric has Anderson Silva at second place on the all time "Knockdowns Landed" stat with 12 (Chuck Liddell is the leader with 14) and far and away at #1 for "Significant Strikes Landed" with an incredible 68.4% rate.
Some things the stats reveal confirm what we already knew -- Belfort doesn't kick much, Silva kicks a lot.
The thing the stats obscure rather than revealing is this -- Belfort might land fewer power shots but I would argue that he punches harder than Silva and gets the KO faster.