BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Chris Leben vs.
Wanderlei Silva

Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.

12-10-0 Chris Leben · UFC
5-7-0 Wanderlei Silva · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.

12-10-0
UFC record
5-7-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Light Heavyweight
46
AgeΔ 4 yrs
50
5'11"
HeightΔ 0"
5'11"
73"
ReachΔ 1"
74"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
151.2
Layoff (months)Δ 9.9 mo
161.1
LLLLW
Last 5 (newest first)
WLWLW
The read

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.

Wanderlei Silva carries real power — 1.11 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.40 Light Heavyweight norm.
Wanderlei Silva rarely shoots — 0.25 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.87 Light Heavyweight norm.
Chris Leben is a submission threat — 0.75 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.47 Middleweight norm.
Level of competition

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.

Chris Leben

Full career not yet synced for Chris Leben — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 3-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.4 wins over .500

Wanderlei Silva

Full career not yet synced for Wanderlei Silva — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 3-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.1 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

5722.88/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
3252.66/min · norm 3.41
5672.85/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
3913.21/min · norm 3.35
42.9%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
33.6%norm 48.3%
53.1%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
62.8%norm 52.9%
50.38/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
91.11/15 · norm 0.40

Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)

Chris Leben

Distance 63.2% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 22.4% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 14.4% (norm 10.3%)

Wanderlei Silva

Distance 84.1% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 10.9% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 5.1% (norm 10.4%)

What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)

Chris Leben

Head 74.0% (norm 78.0%) · Body 11.4% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 14.6% (norm 8.4%)

Wanderlei Silva

Head 85.7% (norm 79.2%) · Body 5.9% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 8.4% (norm 9.7%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.

Zone Leben L/AAccMiddleweight med Silva L/AAccLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 284 / 842 33.7% 40.5% 229 / 812 28.2% 41.4%
In the clinch 162 / 299 54.2% 70.3% 65 / 105 61.9% 70.9%
On the ground 126 / 192 65.6% 69.1% 31 / 49 63.3% 72.3%
BY TARGET
To the head 345 / 987 35.0% 38.9% 228 / 828 27.5% 38.9%
To the body 95 / 152 62.5% 71.7% 43 / 57 75.4% 71.9%
To the legs 132 / 194 68.0% 83.3% 54 / 81 66.7% 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 Leben L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Silva L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 326 / 791 41.2% 39.5% 329 / 933 35.3% 40.4%
In the clinch 142 / 239 59.4% 70.9% 31 / 57 54.4% 68.7%
On the ground 99 / 178 55.6% 69.0% 31 / 60 51.7% 70.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 396 / 979 40.4% 37.9% 282 / 906 31.1% 37.5%
To the body 115 / 154 74.7% 71.3% 68 / 93 73.1% 72.3%
To the legs 56 / 75 74.7% 82.1% 41 / 51 80.4% 83.0%
Grappling

The ground war.

Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.

1745.9% acc · 1.28/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
240.0% acc · 0.25/15 · norm 0.87
3954.9% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
1248.0% def · norm 66.7%
52:3626.4% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
4:193.6% of cage time · norm 16.5%
58:414:25 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
24:082:58 per 15 · norm 2:48
100.75/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
10.12/15 · norm 0.27

Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Leben has more cage time on record.

Next move

Let the engine settle it.