Vitor Belfort knocked brash British standout Michael Bisping silly with a vicious head kick in Round 2 of their UFC on FX 7 main event.
That is the only strike that matters.
Playing with and analyzing Fightmetric statistics is quite fun, but in an instance like this one, the stats are pretty lackluster and come down to one incredibly significant strike.
This crushing kick aside, the Fightmetric statistics tell the story of a relatively even fight.
Round 1
In Round 1, Michael Bisping kept his range and threw jabs and leg kicks at Belfort as he circled away from “The Phenom’s” powerful left hand.
This was probably the right idea going in, but Bisping connected on just 19 percent (10 of 52) of his significant strikes, and he appeared unwilling to switch things up or develop a more cohesive game plan as the round progressed.
Basically, it was jab city and a lot of movement.
As the round ended, however, Belfort clipped Bisping with a head kick (foreshadowing, anyone?) and promptly unloaded a barrage of strikes as the Brit was pinned against the cage.
During this exchange, Belfort ran his significant strike count for the round to nine total on 36 attempts, good for 25 percent, and he also stuffed a desperation takedown from Bisping—the only takedown attempt of the fight.
Where the statistics are concerned, Round 1 shows Bisping threw more shots but did so with less accuracy.
Round 2
Belfort dominated Round 2 on paper and in reality.
Landing nine of 17 significant strikes that included the fight-ending blows, Belfort made good on 53 percent of his significant strike attempts and smartly avoided any danger.
During the round’s short duration, Bisping again failed to establish a rhythm, landing just four of 14 (29 percent) of his significant strikes.
In Summary
There isn’t much to take from these Fightmetric numbers, really. Neither fighter performed brilliantly, but Belfort did exactly what he needed to do to secure the victory—he caught and finished Bisping.
What is most baffling to me was Bisping‘s seeming lack of a game plan. I personally thought he would try his hand at grappling against Belfort, but he instead appeared content to pick “The Phenom” apart from a distance.
The problem with this is that Belfort never really chased him or threw any significant volume of punches, so Bisping was doing nothing to wear him down and force him to gas as expected.
Making this worse, Bisping‘s punches and kicks were pitter-pattery and did no damage whatsoever.
Overall, Bisping failed miserably in his UFC goal, and the statistics back up this notion.
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