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Wanderlei Silva vs. Vitor Belfort

UFC 5-7-0 vs. 15-10-0 (1 NC)

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
5-7-0
UFC record
15-10-0 (1 NC)
Light Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
50
AgeΔ 1 yrs
49
5'11"
HeightΔ 1"
6'0"
74"
ReachΔ 0"
74"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
163.6
Layoff (months)Δ 62.3 mo
101.3
WLWLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LWNCLL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Vitor Belfort carries real power — 1.14 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.
Wanderlei Silva carries real power — 1.11 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.40 Light Heavyweight norm.
Vitor Belfort is a submission threat — 0.83 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Middleweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Wanderlei Silva

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 59
Tier 3 — regional circuit 275

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.69 · 5 tier-1/2 wins · 26 finish wins over 48 documented bouts

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

Vitor Belfort

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1410
Tier 3 — regional circuit 114

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.92 · 14 tier-1/2 wins · 20 finish wins over 40 documented bouts

In the UFC: 10-10 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.1 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

3252.66/min · norm 3.48
Sig. strikes landed
2871.99/min · norm 3.23
3913.21/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
5013.47/min · norm 3.20
33.6%norm 48.45%
Striking accuracy
47.3%norm 47.4%
62.8%norm 52.75%
Striking defense
46.4%norm 53.8%
91.11/15 · norm 0.40
Knockdowns
111.14/15 · norm 0.32

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

Wanderlei Silva

Distance 84.1% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 10.9% (norm 8.8%) · Ground 5.1% (norm 10.6%)

Vitor Belfort

Distance 59.1% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 19.3% (norm 9.0%) · Ground 21.6% (norm 10.0%)

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

Wanderlei Silva

Head 85.7% (norm 78.5%) · Body 5.9% (norm 11.8%) · Legs 8.4% (norm 9.7%)

Vitor Belfort

Head 88.0% (norm 78.0%) · Body 7.9% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 4.1% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Silva L/AAccLight Heavyweight med Belfort L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 229 / 812 28.2% 41.5% 127 / 359 35.4% 40.5%
In the clinch 65 / 105 61.9% 70.8% 68 / 117 58.1% 70.6%
On the ground 31 / 49 63.3% 72.9% 92 / 131 70.2% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 228 / 828 27.5% 39.2% 231 / 534 43.3% 38.8%
To the body 43 / 57 75.4% 72.0% 34 / 48 70.8% 71.6%
To the legs 54 / 81 66.7% 82.1% 22 / 25 88.0% 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 Silva L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med vs Belfort L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 329 / 933 35.3% 40.6% 195 / 499 39.1% 39.5%
In the clinch 31 / 57 54.4% 68.8% 88 / 132 66.7% 70.4%
On the ground 31 / 60 51.7% 70.4% 218 / 304 71.7% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 282 / 906 31.1% 37.7% 335 / 719 46.6% 37.9%
To the body 68 / 93 73.1% 72.9% 52 / 80 65.0% 71.3%
To the legs 41 / 51 80.4% 83.1% 114 / 136 83.8% 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
240.0% acc · 0.25/15 · norm 0.87
Takedowns landed
675.0% acc · 0.62/15 · norm 1.35
1248.0% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
2665.0% def · norm 63.3%
4:193.6% of cage time · norm 17.1%
Control time
7:576.2% of cage time · norm 19.4%
24:082:58 per 15 · norm 2:50
Time under control lower is better
46:244:49 per 15 · norm 3:00
10.12/15 · norm 0.28
Submission attempts
80.83/15 · norm 0.45

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