Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Anderson Silva
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 17 | 7 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 16 | 4 |
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
Rich Franklin
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 14 | 6 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 15 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.39 · 14 tier-1/2 wins · 25 finish wins over 37 documented bouts
In the UFC: 9-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.5 wins over .500
Striking
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%)
Rich Franklin
Distance 79.9% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 11.5% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 8.6% (norm 10.3%)
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%)
Rich Franklin
Head 81.6% (norm 78.0%) · Body 12.8% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 5.5% (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/A | Acc | Middleweight med | Franklin L/A | Acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 567 / 1081 | 52.5% | 40.5% | 596 / 1575 | 37.8% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 123 / 147 | 83.7% | 70.3% | 151 / 226 | 66.8% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 142 / 182 | 78.0% | 69.1% | 109 / 169 | 64.5% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 449 / 939 | 47.8% | 38.9% | 559 / 1608 | 34.8% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 181 / 231 | 78.4% | 71.7% | 198 / 253 | 78.3% | 71.7% |
| To the legs | 202 / 240 | 84.2% | 83.3% | 99 / 109 | 90.8% | 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 (Middleweight: 174 fighters · Middleweight: 174 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 Franklin L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 456 / 1308 | 34.9% | 39.5% | 247 / 877 | 28.2% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 72 / 129 | 55.8% | 70.9% | 120 / 169 | 71.0% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 170 / 287 | 59.2% | 69.0% | 48 / 88 | 54.5% | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 423 / 1321 | 32.0% | 37.9% | 231 / 879 | 26.3% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 88 / 153 | 57.5% | 71.3% | 109 / 162 | 67.3% | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 187 / 250 | 74.8% | 82.1% | 75 / 93 | 80.6% | 82.1% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Silva has more cage time on record.