By The Numbers: Paul Daley vs. Derek Anderson

Bellator MMA matchmakers knew their decision to pit Paul Daley against Derek Anderson in the Bellator 247 main event on Thursday in Milan, Italy, enhanced their chances for violence—the kind over which people keep talking long after it has subsided.

Long established as one of the sport’s premier knockout artists, Daley enters the cage on the strength of back-to-back victories over Erick Silva and Saad Awad. The well-traveled former Cage Rage champion has compiled a respectable 8-4 record in 12 assignments under the Bellator flag, his tenure with the Scott Coker-led promotion highlighted by sensational knockouts of Lorenz Larkin and Brennan Ward. Anderson, meanwhile, heads into his three-round encounter with “Semtex” on the heels of consecutive decision wins against Zak Bucia and Guilherme Vasconcelos. The Team Xplode MMA rep was a semifinalist in Bellator’s Season 10 lightweight tournament.

As Daley and Anderson barrel toward their battle on Italian soil, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

37: Years of age for Daley, who was born on Feb. 21, 1983 in Nottingham, England.

33: Daley wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 80 percent of his career total (41). His list of victims includes Dustin Hazelett, Martin Kampmann and Daniel Weichel.

6: Submission losses on the Daley resume. He has submitted to rear-naked chokes from Rory MacDonald, James Evans-Nicolle and Florentim Amorim, guillotine chokes from Pat Healy and Satoru Kitaoka and an armbar from Jake Shields. All six took place inside the first two rounds.

2: Draws under Daley’s belt. He fought Abdul Mohamed and Paul Jenkins to stalemates in consecutive appearances on Dec. 18, 2004 and April 30, 2005.

41: Seconds needed for Daley to put away Lee Doski with punches and elbows at a UK Mixed Martial Arts Championship event in February 2004. Having occurred in his fourth professional outing, it remains the fastest official finish of his 60-fight career.

30: Years of age for Anderson, who was born in San Diego on Feb. 20, 1990.

3: Promotions in which Anderson has competed as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone 8-0 in Xplode Fight Series, 7-3 in Bellator and 1-0 in Gladiator Challenge.

.747: Cumulative winning percentage between the three men—Marcin Held, Brent Primus and Derek Campos—who have beaten Anderson.

12: Appearances without a loss to start Anderson’s career. He went 11-0 with one no contest before submitting to a triangle choke from Held at Bellator 117.

3: Sub-minute stoppage victories to Anderson’s credit. He choked Dominique Chisem unconscious with a guillotine in 27 seconds on Nov. 19, 2011, disposed of Dino Valdez with a guillotine choke in 26 seconds on March 24, 2012 and cut down Craig Flynn with punches in 48 seconds on July 20, 2013.