Israel Adesanya vs. Anderson Silva: Who is the more efficient MMA striker?

Israel Adesanya vs. Anderson Silva was the passing of the proverbial torch in the middleweight division of the UFC. It saw the young striking savant Adesanya duel it out on the feet against the legendary maestro, Anderson Silva.

The fight went the distance as both fighters showed off their immaculate striking abilities while showboating. Adesanya gave the Brazilian a taste of his own medicine by outstriking him to win on the scorecards. 'The Last Stylebender' showed Silva what it was like to fight a younger version of himself, ducking and weaving, hitting and making Silva miss.

Take a look at the pair's striking below:

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Israel Adesanya vs. Anderson Silva striking stats

Both Adesanya and Silva are among two of the best strikers the UFC, nay the world of MMA, has ever seen. Both of them have great reflexes and precision paired with long reach.

Comparing stats from their MMA careers, 'The Last Stylebender' wins on "punches landed per minute" with an average of 3.93 strikes. Silva, on the other hand, lands about 3.05 strikes per minute. However, statistics show that the Brazilian is better at avoiding strikes with just 2.05 strikes absorbed per minute. Israel Adesanya, on the other hand, absorbs 2.67 strikes per minute.

The pair have the same striking average in the UFC with 3.39 strikes per minute. Next up is accuracy, a very important factor in determining the effect of a strike.

Anderson Silva has a striking accuracy of 60% which is far higher than Adesanya's 49%. They are nearly identical in defending strikes thrown at them. Adesanya defends 59% of the strikes thrown at him, the number is 60% for 'The Spider'.

Despite having fought more fights in the UFC and in MMA in general, Silva seems to be the better striker in terms of efficiency.

Israel Adesanya has vast experience in kickboxing, which is pure striking with no grappling whatsoever. This is one reason why 'The Last Stylebender' has barely any takedown attempts and is not very good at grappling. Although Adesanya was able to defend Marvin Vettori's takedown attempts, Silva's grappling and jiu-jitsu is at a much higher level.

However, we have to consider the fact that Adesanya fought a higher level of strikers than Silva did. 'The Spider' pioneered MMA striking in 2000s and as the sport grew, it was graced by, quite naturally, better strikers than those who came before.