By @fightnomics While the buzz of UFC 187 takes its time to subside, you don’t have long to recover until the next fight card. Fortunately, headlining the event in Goiania Brazil this weekend are two exciting veterans of the sport who have each fought for the Welterweight Title, but who present very different skillsets. Carlos Condit and Thiago Alves will each try to justify their spot on the title shot waiting list, and we could be in for a fun striking duel between them, as both are quite hesitant to initiate takedowns. But in terms of their striking attacks, Condit and Alves are among the more diverse strikers on the card, with Condit actually relying on kicks more than anyone else. So let’s see what else we can learn by stacking up the more experienced fighters on the card and examining their standup striking target selection and pace.
For more on these and other MMA performance metrics, get the book “Fightnomics.”
Most Diverse Striker Carlos Condit throws fewer head strikes than anyone on the card, and that’s because he’s mixing in plenty of leg and body kicks in his combinations. While is accuracy is low, he also happens to have the highest standup striking volume on the card, averaging 15.3 attempts per minute and outworking his opponents by 70% on volume while at a distance. Given the range advantage he’ll have over Alves, these metrics are important indicators that Condit will be well-equipped to score well on the cards, even if his opponent may have more dangerous power. Working the Body KJ Noons is another fast-paced striker, and also the fighter this weekend who will be working the body most often. Nearly a quarter of all his distance strikes are aimed at the body, and he clearly prefers to stand and trade with opponents. In fact, in well over two hours of total fight time analyzed, he’s landed just one takedown overall. He faces promotional newcomer, and fellow striking enthusiast Alex Oliveira, in what should be another striking duel on the main card. Rony Jason may have a black belt in BJJ, but he’s also got a black belt in Kickboxing, which has influenced his tendency to throw a lot of kicks to the body. While the TUF Brazil winner rarely uses leg kicks, he goes after the body with 21% of all his distance strikes. Jason now returns after a one-year layoff to take on submission specialist, Damon Jackson. Charles Oliveira may be known for his crafty submissions, but he’s capable of mixing it up on his feet as well. He uses a diverse mix of body and leg kicks while maintaining a high pace of attempts. However, he’s facing an even faster-paced opponent in Nik Lentz, who also uses tons of takedowns in his attack – so Oliveira’s striking attack may need to become more conservative to avoid getting wrestled for three rounds. Offering big power for a Lightweight, Francisco Trinaldo will also be working the body of opponent Norman Parke this weekend. Both Men are accurate Southpaws, but stylistically utilized a different mix of strikes. All those kicks may be adversely affecting Trinaldo’s strike defense, however, so given the aggressive style of his opponent he’ll need all the power he can muster. Trinaldo is also the oldest fighter on the card, now pushing 37 years old, so heads need to be careful about trading too much leather. Watch the Leg Kicks In the main event Thiago Alves will be looking to counter Condit’s blistering pace and lengthy combinations with his ferocious knockout power, and expect to see more than a few leg kicks too. About 22% of all of Alves’s standing strikes are leg kicks, more than twice the average rate. While his striking pace is good, it’s still below Condit’s, so Alves will need to use his counters effectively and try to display that power that has scored him 11 knockdowns in his UFC career, far more than anyone else on the card this weekend. Another guy looking to chop his opponent down is Wilson Reis, who throws leg kicks at 18% of his total distance strikes. His opponent, Jussier Da Silva is far less diverse in his striking attack, but both men have sound grappling credentials that might cancel out, so the standup exchanges could determine a winner. Ryan Jimmo does like to utilize leg kicks, but the striking specialist is more notable with his power. He averages a low striking output, but his head strike accuracy is very high, as is his Knockdown Rate. Strike-for-strike, Jimmo has possibly the most dangerous power of anyone this weekend. Headhunters No one is more of a head-hunter this weekend than Mirsad Bektic. Through his two UFC fights to date, he has yet to throw a single leg kick, aiming for the aim instead 97% of the time. But that’s partially due to much less time spent standing and trading than is usual. He’s facing another fighter who relies more heavily on head strikes in Lucas Martins. The power ratings favor Martins as the more dangerous of the two, should they decide to trade strikes. No one’s pace on this weekend’s fight card is as slow as Jussier “Formiga” Da Silva. He barely averages half of the pace of his opponent Wilson Reis, and is clearly very focused on boxing with very few body or leg strikes. But Formiga’s ground game is very dangerous, leading to eight career submissions. Perhaps this is why he has no career finishes by strikes to date. Norman Parke uses as close to the “average” mix of strikes as there is among this crew of athletes. More notably, he has an aggressive forward style, with a high average pace and a tendency to outwork opponents on the feet. But Stormin’ Norman also boasts a black belt in Judo, which could come in handy if his opponent Francisco Trinaldo decides to take it to the ground. Nik Lentz is another guy with a very benchmark target selection, but it’s his work pace is what sets him apart. He averages a high rate of strikes and an even higher rate of takedowns attempts. With 137 takedown attempts in his UFC cage time to date, he attempts 1.4 takedowns for every minute that he’s on his feet. It doesn’t matter that he hasn’t shown a lot of KO power, or hasn’t landed a high rate of his takedowns, when it comes to grinding opponents out it’s a relentless and smothering attack that counts. For information on getting the “Fightnomics” the book, go here.