By the Numbers: Anderson Silva vs. Jared Cannonier

The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 237 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.

Only three months since his last fight, Anderson Silva is back inside the Octagon. He will compete specifically in Rio de Janeiro, where he last fought more than six years ago and destroyed a legitimate light heavyweight in Stephan Bonnar. His nemesis on May 11 is Jarod Cannonier, a former heavyweight who dropped to light heavyweight before most recently settling at 185. Let these numbers show what’s in store for fans at UFC 237.

Octagon experience

Cannonier made his UFC debut on Jan. 3, 2015 at UFC 182, losing to Shawn Jordan by knockout. Around that time, Silva had just recovered from the injury he sustained after his rematch with Chris Weidman and was preparing for his return bout with Nick Diaz.

In all, Silva has 23 Octagon appearances, with a record of 17-5 and one No Contest. After eight UFC bouts, Cannonier has registered a 4-4 slate.

Career losses

While Silva looked invincible inside the Octagon before losing to Weidman, he did have four defeats prior to joining the UFC. He lost to Luiz Azeredo by decision, Daiju Takase and Ryo Chonan by submission, and Yushin Okami by disqualification. Silva’s career went on a downward spiral since dropping to Weidman twice. He has since lost to Michael Bisping, Daniel Cormier and Israel Adesanya, all by unanimous decision.

Cannonier, meanwhile, entered the UFC undefeated. Apart from Jordan, the other fighters who defeated him are Glover Teixeira, Jan Blachowicz and Dominick Reyes.

Most recent performance

After bouncing back from a string of losses by defeating Derek Brunson, Silva dropped a decision to Israel Adesanya in an entertaining striking match. The Brazilian all-time great was outstruck 65-31 by the younger Adesanya. Meanwhile, Cannonier has a little momentum behind him as he last knocked out former two-division World Series of Fighting champion David Branch in November. Cannonier landed 26 significant strikes as opposed to Branch’s 10 before throwing his fight-ending shots.

Divisions fought in

Cannonier started his professional career as a heavyweight, where he was undersized at 6’0”. Nonetheless, he always fought his heart out and even won his first seven bouts. But after going 1-1 in the UFC, he dropped to light heavyweight and emerged victorious in his debut. However, he went 1-3 afterwards.

He now fights at middleweight, a division Silva dominated for years. “The Spider” has also fought at light heavyweight, facing the likes of James Irvin, Forrest Griffin, Bonnar and Cormier.

Fights at middleweight

As aforementioned, Silva was a dominant force at middleweight. He won the Shooto, Cage Rage, and UFC titles in this weight class and and has defeated some of the world’s best, including Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Demian Maia and Jeremy Horn. Cannonier, on the other hand, is only in his second middleweight bout but feels he is at his best in this division. And if his knockout of Branch is any indication, it looks like he has truly found his home.