Let’s be honest: Every now and then it’s fun to get down into the nitty-gritty statistics and see if we can’t perform some MMAth. It helps us analyze future fights and make predictions based on previous bouts which have taken place. Fans of all sports do it, so why can’t we? It can help us look for potential trends in a fighter as well. So, with thanks to Sherdog and FightMetric.com for the raw data, let’s examine the main event of the upcoming UFC 162: Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman.

Stats For Suckas: Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman

Anderson Silva	Stats	Chris Weidman
38	Age	29
Team Nogueira	Camp	Serra-Longo Fight Team
33-4	Record	9-0
Southpaw	Stance	Orthodox
77.5″	Reach	78.0″
20 (T)KOs (61%)	Win Percentage	3 (T)KO (33.3%)
6 Submissions (18%)		3 Submissions (33.3%)
7 Decisions (21%)		3 Decisions (33.3%)
2 Submissions (50%)	Loss Percentage	N/A
1 Decision (25%)
1 DQ (25%)
Oct. 13, 2012, over	Last (T)KO Victory	July 11, 2012, over
Stephan Bonnar		Mark Munoz
Aug. 07, 2010,  over	Last Submission Victory	Nov. 19, 2011, over
Chael Sonnen		Tom Lawlor
Apr. 10, 2010, over	Last Decision Victory	Jan. 28, 2012, over
Demian Maia		Demian Maia
N/A	Last (T)KO Loss	N/A
Dec. 31, 2004, to	Last Submission Loss	N/A
Ryo Chonnan
May 27, 2000, to	Last Decision Loss	N/A
Luiz Azeredo
Strikes 3x (50%)	Submission Victories	Guillotine 1x (33.3%)
Triangle 2x (33.3%)	by Method	Brabo Choke 1x (33.3%)
RNC 1x (16.7%)		Kimura 1x (33.3%)
Heel Hook 1x (50%)	Submission Losses	N/A
Triangle 1x (50%)	by Method
17 Fights	Undefeated Streak	9
16 Fights	UFC Undefeated Streak	5
2	Decision Victories	2
	in the UFC
3.17	Significant Strikes	3.23
	Landed Per Minute
67%	Striking Accuracy	43%
1.41	Significant Strikes	1.95
	Absorbed Per Minute
63%	Striking Defense	69%
0.72	Average Takedown	4.47
	Attempts per 15 Min.
78%	Takedown Accuracy	72%
70%	Takedown Defense	100%
	Percentage
1.13	Average Submission	1.38
	Attempts Per 15 Min.
22.70%	Average Submission	50.20%
	Completion Rate
70, vs. Jeremy Horn,	Most Significant Strikes	58, vs. Demian Maia,
on Jun. 27, 2004	Landed in a Fight	on Jan. 28, 2012
5 hrs, 49 min, 41 sec	Total Cage Time	1 hr, 4 min, 57 sec

Now, despite the fact that just about every statistic appears to bode in the favor of Anderson Silva, allow me to point to three that I believe will likely give Chris Weidman the edge in their UFC middleweight title bout: Age, Reach, and Submission Losses. Yes, “The Spider” has an insane amount of victories, and a Fedoresque winning streak at the moment, but his last two actual losses (we’ll discount the DQ against Okami for the moment) were by submission. I’ll give you that the Ryo Chonnan flying heel hook was one of those crazy once-in-a-lifetime subs, but it still counts. Weidman, however, has a strong takedown, and a top game dominant enough to threaten Silva. He also has a reach advantage, however small, and can use that to set up his takedowns. Finally, we come to the age statistic, with Weidman entering his athletic prime as Silva begins to exit his. If these three factors are coupled with a good game plan from coaches Matt Serra and Ray Longo, then there’s a good chance that Weidman will be like Garfield to “The Spider.” So, don’t be surprised to see “The All-American” put the smack down and finish Anderson Silva in the 4th round.