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 on FOX 9: Demetrious Johnson vs Joseph Benavidez 2.

Stats for Suckas: Demetrious Johnson vs Joseph Benavidez 2

Statistics	Demetrious Johnson	Joseph Benavidez
Age	27	29
Camp	AMC Pankration	Team Alpha Male
Record	18-2-1	19-3
Stance	Orthodox	Southpaw
Reach	66.0″	64.0″
Win Percentage	3 (T)KO (17%) 7 Submissions (39%) 8 Decision (44%)	6 (T)KO (32%) 8 Submissions (42%) 5 Decision (26%)
Loss Percentage	2 Decisions (100%)	3 Decision (100%)
Last (T)KO Victory	July 14th, 2007, over Pedro Mercado	Sep. 4th, 2013, over Jussier da Silva
Last Submission Victory	July 27th, 2013, over John Moraga	Nov. 11th, 2010, over Wagney Fabiano
Last Decision Victory	Jan. 26th, 2013, over John Dodson	Feb. 2nd, 2013, over Ian McCall
Last (T)KO Loss	N/A	N/A
Last Submission Loss	N/A	N/A
Last Decision Loss	Oct. 11th, 2011, to Dominick Cruz	Sep. 22, 2012, to Demetrious Johnson
Submission Victories by Method	RNC 3x (43%) Armbar 2x (28%) Guillotine 1x (14%) Keylock 1x (14%)	Guillotine 4x (50%) RNC 2x (25%) Triangle 1x (12.5%) Kimura 1x (12.5%)
Submission Losses by method	N/A	N/A
Current Finishing Streak	1 fight	2 fights
Longest Finishing Streak	6 fights	8 fights
Decision Victories in the UFC	5	3
Significant Strikes Landed Per Minute	3.32	2.99
Striking Accuracy	51%	31%
Significant Strikes Absorbed Per Minute	1.9	2.09
Striking Defense	65%	66%
Average Takedown Attempts per 15 Min.	3.73	1.26
Takedown Accuracy	56%	25%
Takedown Defense Percentage	62%	53%
Average Submission per 15 Min.	0.3	1.01
Average Submission Completion Rate	40.61%	65.05%
Most Significant Strikes Landed in a Fight	127, on Jan. 26th, 2013, against John Dodson	66, on Aug. 14th, 2011, against Eddie Wineland
Total Fight Time	4 hrs, 23 min, 2 sec	3 hrs, 19 min, 38 sec

The first fight was close, as evidenced by the split decision. This could be just as close, but while we haven’t had enough time to see the statistical effect of Duane Ludwig’s tutelage on “Joe-B-Wan Kenobi,” I’m thinking his ever improving striking could be the difference here. Everybody knows that Demetrious Johnson is elusive, but I think that Benavidez will have a better eye for his game now that he’s coming into a rematch. So, while I don’t expect there to be a finish, I do expect Joseph Benavidez to win by decision