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 history. 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 Fight Night 30: Mark Munoz vs Lyoto Machida.

Stats: Mark Munoz vs Lyoto Machida

Statistic	Mark Munoz	Lyoto Machida
Age	35	35
Camp	Reign MMA	Black House/Team Machida
Record	13-3	19-4
Stance	Orthodox	Southpaw
Reach	71.0″	73.0″
Win Percentage	6 (T)KO (46%) 1 Submission (8%) 6 Decisions (46%)	7 (T)KO (37%) 2 Submission (11%) 10 Decisions (52%)
Loss Percentage	2 (T)KO (67%) 1 Decision (33%)	1 (T)KO (25%) 1 Submission (25%) 2 Decisions (50%)
Last (T)KO Victory	Nov. 5th, 2011, over Chris Leben	Aug. 4th, 2012, over Ryan Bader
Last Submission Victory	Jan. 2nd, 2010, over Ryan Jensen	Dec. 29th, 2007, over Rameau Thierry Sokodjou
Last Decision Victory	July 6th, 2013, over Tim Boetsch	Feb. 23rd, 2013, over Dan Henderson
Last (T)KO Loss	July 11th, 2012, to Chris Weidman	May 8th, 2010, to Mauricio Rua
Last Submission Loss	N/A	Dec. 10th, 2011, to Jon Jones
Last Decision Loss	Aug. 1st, 2010, to Yushin Okami	Aug. 3rd, 2013, to Phil Davis
Submission Victories by Method	Punches 1x (100%)	Arm Triangle x1 (50%) Forearm Choke x1 (50%)
Submission Losses by method	N/A	Guillotine x1 (100%)
Last fight at Light Heavyweight	Mar. 7th, 2009, against Mark Hamill	Aug. 3rd, 2013, against Phil Davis
Most Submission Attempts in one fight	2	5
Decision Victories in the UFC	4	6
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute	3.44	2.8
Striking Accuracy	52%	57%
Significant Strikes Absorbed Per Minute	2.15	1.4
Striking Defense	59%	63%
Average Takedown Attempts per 15 Min.	2.65	1.64
Takedown Accuracy	27%	66%
Takedown Defense Percentage	58%	79%
Average Submission Attempts per 15 Min.	0.66	0.57
Average Submission Completion Rate	0.00%	19.80%
Most Significant Strikes Landed in a Fight	76, against Aaron Simpson, Nov. 20th, 2010	70, against Kazuhiro Nakamura, Sep. 22nd, 2007
Total Fight Time	2 hrs, 18 min, 50 sec	4 hrs, 25 min, 12 sec

Despite all the hype behind his accolades and skills in the NCAA, Mark Munoz isn’t exactly the strongest MMA wrestler in the UFC. So, let’s throw the idea of this being a ground war out the window right now. This is going to be a stand-up fight, and will likely be the another case of Machida showing off his trademark movement for the first two stanzas. The big test will be the third round, where we’ll see if “The Dragon’s” cardio has survived his first weight cut down to 185 lbs. If Lyoto’s cardio holds up through the third, this fight belongs to him. If it doesn’t, expect to see Munoz catch up and start teeing off, knocking his Brazilian foe down and attempting to pound him out. I’m not making a prediction on this fight, simply because the cardio question is one that I can’t answer. So, sit back, grab some popcorn and some beer, and enjoy an afternoon of fights.