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Nick Diaz vs. Anderson Silva

UFC 7-7-0 (1 NC) vs. 17-7-0 (1 NC)

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
7-7-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
17-7-0 (1 NC)
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
43
AgeΔ 8 yrs
51
6'1"
HeightΔ 1"
6'2"
76"
ReachΔ 1"
77"
Southpaw
Stance
Southpaw
60.8
Layoff (months)Δ 10.8 mo
71.6
LNCLLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Anderson Silva carries real power — 1.00 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.
Nick Diaz is a submission threat — 0.95 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.44 Welterweight norm.
Anderson Silva rarely shoots — 0.17 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.35 Middleweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Nick Diaz

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 77
Tier 3 — regional circuit 173

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.88 · 7 tier-1/2 wins · 19 finish wins over 36 documented bouts

In the UFC: 2-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.1 wins over .500

Anderson Silva

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 177
Tier 3 — regional circuit 164

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.22 · 17 tier-1/2 wins · 25 finish wins over 45 documented bouts

In the UFC: 15-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.7 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

8724.26/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
8323.07/min · norm 3.23
7963.89/min · norm 3.08
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
6982.58/min · norm 3.20
41.7%norm 44.75%
Striking accuracy
59.0%norm 47.4%
54.1%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
59.5%norm 53.8%
30.22/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
181.00/15 · norm 0.32

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

Nick Diaz

Distance 82.8% (norm 80.7%) · Clinch 11.7% (norm 9.6%) · Ground 5.5% (norm 8.1%)

Anderson Silva

Distance 76.7% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 10.4% (norm 9.0%) · Ground 12.9% (norm 10.0%)

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

Nick Diaz

Head 80.8% (norm 78.3%) · Body 14.7% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 4.5% (norm 8.0%)

Anderson Silva

Head 66.6% (norm 78.0%) · Body 16.4% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 17.0% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Diaz L/AAccWelterweight med Silva L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 658 / 1734 37.9% 38.5% 567 / 1081 52.5% 40.5%
In the clinch 155 / 244 63.5% 67.8% 123 / 147 83.7% 70.6%
On the ground 59 / 115 51.3% 67.0% 142 / 182 78.0% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 605 / 1691 35.8% 36.4% 449 / 939 47.8% 38.8%
To the body 212 / 307 69.1% 70.7% 181 / 231 78.4% 71.6%
To the legs 55 / 95 57.9% 83.0% 202 / 240 84.2% 83.3%

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 (Welterweight: 180 fighters · Middleweight: 178 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 Diaz L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Silva L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 574 / 1290 44.5% 39.1% 456 / 1308 34.9% 39.5%
In the clinch 132 / 245 53.9% 68.9% 72 / 129 55.8% 70.4%
On the ground 90 / 201 44.8% 68.0% 170 / 287 59.2% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 507 / 1389 36.5% 35.6% 423 / 1321 32.0% 37.9%
To the body 149 / 179 83.2% 69.6% 88 / 153 57.5% 71.3%
To the legs 140 / 168 83.3% 82.2% 187 / 250 74.8% 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
1434.1% acc · 1.03/15 · norm 1.31
Takedowns landed
375.0% acc · 0.17/15 · norm 1.35
4962.8% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
5876.3% def · norm 63.3%
29:3014.4% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
13:495.1% of cage time · norm 19.4%
48:443:34 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control lower is better
68:133:46 per 15 · norm 3:00
130.95/15 · norm 0.44
Submission attempts
60.33/15 · norm 0.45

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