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Stephan Bonnar vs. Anderson Silva

UFC 8-7-0 vs. 17-7-0 (1 NC)

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
8-7-0
UFC record
17-7-0 (1 NC)
Light Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
49
AgeΔ 2 yrs
51
6'4"
HeightΔ 2"
6'2"
79"
ReachΔ 2"
77"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
168.2
Layoff (months)Δ 96.6 mo
71.6
LWWWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Stephan Bonnar is a submission threat — 1.12 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Light Heavyweight norm.
Anderson Silva carries real power — 1.00 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.
Stephan Bonnar owns the mat — in control 34% of cage time, vs a 17% Light Heavyweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Stephan Bonnar

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 88
Tier 3 — regional circuit 71

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.87 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 10 finish wins over 24 documented bouts

In the UFC: 5-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.2 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

4592.65/min · norm 3.48
Sig. strikes landed
8323.07/min · norm 3.23
5012.89/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
6982.58/min · norm 3.20
39.7%norm 48.45%
Striking accuracy
59.0%norm 47.4%
52.4%norm 52.75%
Striking defense
59.5%norm 53.8%
20.17/15 · norm 0.40
Knockdowns
181.00/15 · norm 0.32

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

Stephan Bonnar

Distance 62.8% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 21.2% (norm 8.8%) · Ground 16.0% (norm 10.6%)

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)

Stephan Bonnar

Head 83.2% (norm 78.5%) · Body 10.8% (norm 11.8%) · Legs 6.0% (norm 9.7%)

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 Bonnar L/AAccLight Heavyweight med Silva L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 199 / 725 27.4% 41.5% 567 / 1081 52.5% 40.5%
In the clinch 147 / 245 60.0% 70.8% 123 / 147 83.7% 70.6%
On the ground 113 / 185 61.1% 72.9% 142 / 182 78.0% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 324 / 961 33.7% 39.2% 449 / 939 47.8% 38.8%
To the body 89 / 125 71.2% 72.0% 181 / 231 78.4% 71.6%
To the legs 46 / 69 66.7% 82.1% 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 (Light Heavyweight: 94 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 Bonnar L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med vs Silva L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 297 / 735 40.4% 40.6% 456 / 1308 34.9% 39.5%
In the clinch 148 / 233 63.5% 68.8% 72 / 129 55.8% 70.4%
On the ground 56 / 85 65.9% 70.4% 170 / 287 59.2% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 324 / 819 39.6% 37.7% 423 / 1321 32.0% 37.9%
To the body 90 / 113 79.6% 72.9% 88 / 153 57.5% 71.3%
To the legs 87 / 121 71.9% 83.1% 187 / 250 74.8% 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
1741.5% acc · 1.47/15 · norm 0.87
Takedowns landed
375.0% acc · 0.17/15 · norm 1.35
3158.5% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
5876.3% def · norm 63.3%
59:2934.3% of cage time · norm 17.1%
Control time
13:495.1% of cage time · norm 19.4%
38:123:18 per 15 · norm 2:50
Time under control lower is better
68:133:46 per 15 · norm 3:00
131.12/15 · norm 0.28
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.