By the Numbers: Corey Anderson vs. Johnny Walker

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Since entering the Ultimate Fighting Championship a year ago, Johnny Walker has been wreaking havoc on the light heavyweight division. Now it’s time for him to prove his mettle against a Top 10 opponent in Corey Anderson. Before watching these two light heavyweights duke it out on Nov. 2 at UFC 244, take a look into the numbers below to get an idea on who may have the upper hand.

Octagon appearances

Walker has been phenomenal in his three previous trips to the Octagon, stopping all three of his opponents in the first round. After appearing in Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, Walker made his UFC debut on Nov. 17, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 140. He was paired up with Khalil Rountree, who was then on a three-fight winning streak. That confidence did nothing to hurt his game, as Walker went on to knock Rountree out less than two minutes into the fight. This showcase was followed by two more victories over Justin Ledet and Misha Cirkunov. That’s a perfect 3-0 UFC ledger for the IF Team representative.

Anderson leads Walker by a mile in terms of Octagon experience. Like Walker, he debuted impressively with a one-minute knockout of Matt Van Buren on July 6, 2014, at The Ultimate Fighter 19 finale. He picked up two straight victories before suffering his first UFC loss to Gian Villante. Now, he sports a UFC record of 9-4, with triumphs over the likes of Glover Teixeira, Jan Blachowicz and Fabio Maldonado.

Stoppage rate

With 16 of his 17 career wins coming via stoppages, Walker is a certified finisher. What’s even more impressive is the manner in which he has been disposing of his opponents. One need only look at his last three fights to realize how destructive Walker is. He stopped Rountree with an elbow, Ledet with a spinning back fist and punches and Cirkunov with a flying knee and punches. That’s only three of his 14 triumphs by KO or TKO. He also has two wins by submission, which all together makes for an impressive 94 percent stoppage rate.

With four stoppages in 12 wins, Anderson isn’t nearly as stoppage-conscious, but he gets the job done all the same. He owns four wins by KO or TKO and none by submission. That makes for a 33 percent finishing rate. Apart from Van Buren, he also knocked out Sean O’Connell in the UFC.

First-round stoppages

Of Walker’s 16 stoppages, 14 came in the first round. Seven of them happened in less than a minute. Meanwhile, three of Anderson’s four career wins happened in Round 1, proving he is very much capable of ending fights early himself.

Career losses

Between the opposing fighters, it’s Anderson who has faced more quality adversary. Despite that, he has only lost four times and all of them were against top-level opponents, namely Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Ovince St. Preux, Jimi Manuwa and Gian Villante.

On the other end, Walker has looked so exceptional that it’s hard to think that he has three blemishes on his resume. As it happens, he was knocked out by Henrique Silva Lopes and Wagner Prado and submitted by Klidson Abreu.