Anderson Silva vs. Stephan Bonnar

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

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
17-7-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
8-7-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Light Heavyweight
51
AgeΔ 2 yrs
49
6'2"
HeightΔ 2"
6'4"
77"
ReachΔ 2"
79"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
69.2
Layoff (months)Δ 96.6 mo
165.8
LLLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LWWWL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Stephan Bonnar is a submission threat — 1.12 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.27 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 16% Light Heavyweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

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

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

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

8323.07/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
4592.65/min · norm 3.41
6982.58/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
5012.89/min · norm 3.35
59.0%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
39.7%norm 48.3%
59.5%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
52.4%norm 52.9%
181.00/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
20.17/15 · norm 0.40

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%)

Stephan Bonnar

Distance 62.8% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 21.2% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 16.0% (norm 10.4%)

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%)

Stephan Bonnar

Head 83.2% (norm 79.2%) · Body 10.8% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 6.0% (norm 9.7%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Silva L/AAccMiddleweight med Bonnar L/AAccLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 567 / 1081 52.5% 40.5% 199 / 725 27.4% 41.4%
In the clinch 123 / 147 83.7% 70.3% 147 / 245 60.0% 70.9%
On the ground 142 / 182 78.0% 69.1% 113 / 185 61.1% 72.3%
BY TARGET
To the head 449 / 939 47.8% 38.9% 324 / 961 33.7% 38.9%
To the body 181 / 231 78.4% 71.7% 89 / 125 71.2% 71.9%
To the legs 202 / 240 84.2% 83.3% 46 / 69 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 Silva L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Bonnar L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 456 / 1308 34.9% 39.5% 297 / 735 40.4% 40.4%
In the clinch 72 / 129 55.8% 70.9% 148 / 233 63.5% 68.7%
On the ground 170 / 287 59.2% 69.0% 56 / 85 65.9% 70.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 423 / 1321 32.0% 37.9% 324 / 819 39.6% 37.5%
To the body 88 / 153 57.5% 71.3% 90 / 113 79.6% 72.3%
To the legs 187 / 250 74.8% 82.1% 87 / 121 71.9% 83.0%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
375.0% acc · 0.17/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
1741.5% acc · 1.47/15 · norm 0.87
5876.3% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
3158.5% def · norm 66.7%
13:495.1% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
59:2934.3% of cage time · norm 16.5%
68:133:46 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
38:123:18 per 15 · norm 2:48
60.33/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
131.12/15 · norm 0.27

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