Anderson Silva vs.
James Irvin
Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.
The men, measured.
Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.
What the numbers say.
Scouting notes, auto-generated — only stats deviating more than 25% from the division median make this list. No narratives, just deviations.
Who did they actually beat?
Full-career records re-graded by the tier of opposition — the same grading the Contender Series pick model uses. Records built on tier-4 competition are worth less than records built on killers.
Anderson Silva
Full career not yet synced for Anderson Silva — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 15-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.7 wins over .500
James Irvin
Full career not yet synced for James Irvin — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 1-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.6 wins over .500
The stand-up battle.
Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Anderson Silva
Distance 76.7% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 10.4% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 12.9% (norm 10.3%)
James Irvin
Distance 70.2% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 9.1% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 20.7% (norm 10.4%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Anderson Silva
Head 66.6% (norm 78.0%) · Body 16.4% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 17.0% (norm 8.4%)
James Irvin
Head 66.9% (norm 79.2%) · Body 7.4% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 25.6% (norm 9.7%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Silva L/A | Acc | Middleweight med | Irvin L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 567 / 1081 | 52.5% | 40.5% | 35 / 85 | 41.2% | 41.4% |
| In the clinch | 123 / 147 | 83.7% | 70.3% | 7 / 11 | too few to rate | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 142 / 182 | 78.0% | 69.1% | 17 / 25 | 68.0% | 72.3% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 449 / 939 | 47.8% | 38.9% | 29 / 81 | 35.8% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 181 / 231 | 78.4% | 71.7% | 8 / 9 | too few to rate | 71.9% |
| To the legs | 202 / 240 | 84.2% | 83.3% | 22 / 31 | 71.0% | 81.8% |
Zones with fewer than 25 attempts are marked "too few to rate". Each fighter is measured against the median of leaderboard-eligible fighters in his own division (Middleweight: 174 fighters · Light Heavyweight: 93 fighters).
What lands on them Opponents' accuracy against each man
Green ≤ division median — harder to hit than the typical man in his division.
| Zone | vs Silva L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med | vs Irvin L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 456 / 1308 | 34.9% | 39.5% | 56 / 106 | 52.8% | 40.4% |
| In the clinch | 72 / 129 | 55.8% | 70.9% | 17 / 21 | too few to rate | 68.7% |
| On the ground | 170 / 287 | 59.2% | 69.0% | 38 / 45 | 84.4% | 70.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 423 / 1321 | 32.0% | 37.9% | 83 / 142 | 58.5% | 37.5% |
| To the body | 88 / 153 | 57.5% | 71.3% | 19 / 21 | too few to rate | 72.3% |
| To the legs | 187 / 250 | 74.8% | 82.1% | 9 / 9 | too few to rate | 83.0% |
The ground war.
Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Silva has more cage time on record.