Behind the UFC on FOX 2 numbers: Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping fight complete statistical breakdown

Is it Saturday yet?

This is the question mixed martial arts (MMA) fans have been asking all week, due to the fact that Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweights Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping will be engaging in combat at UFC on FOX 2 in Chicago, Ill., to determine who gets the next shot at Anderson Silva.

It's the kind of fight that generally doesn't need the hype. That said, the fighters haven't exactly been miming their emotions in the week leading up to it.

Regardless of how you feel about either polarizing fighter, you're going to have a hard time not getting excited for a bout of this magnitude.

Come with me after the jump and we'll inspect the numbers that make up Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping.

The genius mathematicians at CompuStrike worked overtime this week to bring you the numbers behind this fantastic number one contender eliminator match. The numbers obtained have been based on nine fight averages for Chael Sonnen and 15 fight averages for Michael Bisping.

First, let's analyze the overall striking game of both fighters:

Total Strikes:

Sonnen -- 125 of 229
Bisping -- 62 of 139

Percentage:

Sonnen -- 55 percent
Bisping -- 45 percent

Total Power Strikes Landed:

Sonnen -- 84
Bisping -- 41

Total Non-Power Strikes Landed:

Sonnen -- 41
Bisping -- 21

Not even close. Are you still sure that Sonnen is incapable of standing in the pocket and trading strikes with Bisping?

Not so fast.

Those are the big picture striking numbers. Here's what the arm strikes look like:

Total Arm Strikes Landed:

Sonnen -- 22 of 70
Bisping -- 30 of 85

Percentage of Arm Strikes Landed:

Sonnen -- 31 percent
Bisping -- 35 percent

Power Strikes Landed:

Sonnen -- 19
Bisping -- 19

Non-Power Strikes Landed

Sonnen -- 3
Bisping -- 11

Still close, but as you can see, Sonnen would probably not be best served to try to convince Bisping to play Buster Douglas to his Mike Tyson.

The leg strikes category is where the gap starts to widen:

Total Leg Strikes Landed:

Sonnen -- 10 of 15
Bisping -- 9 of 17

Percentage of Leg Strikes Landed:

Sonnen -- 67 percent
Bisping -- 53 percent

Power Leg Strikes Landed:

Sonnen -- 7
Bisping -- 6

Non-Power Leg Strikes Landed:

Sonnen -- 3
Bisping -- 3

Sonnen shows to be more accurate. Otherwise, it's not a huge deficit in the kicks and knees department, as a whole.

Wrestling is Sonnen's world. You'd assume he'd dominate in a big way here.

Let's take a peak:

Ground Strikes Landed:

Sonnen -- 93 of 144
Bisping -- 23 of 37

Percentage:

Sonnen -- 61 percent
Bisping -- 62 percent

Power Ground Strikes Landed:

Sonnen -- 58
Bisping -- 16

Non-Power Ground Strikes Landed:

Sonnen -- 35
Bisping -- 7

Takedowns:

Sonnen -- 27 of 39 (69 percent)
Bisping -- 21 of 35 (60 percent)

Submission Attempts:

Sonnen -- 4
Bisping -- 7

Dominant Positions:

Sonnen -- 15
Bisping -- 11

Not a big shocker as Sonnen takes it pretty much across the board. While it's true that Bisping has a higher percentage of strikes landed on the ground, that has more to do with volume than anything else.

Regardless of what he may be saying, the Brit almost certainly wants this fight to stay vertical.

Is this about what you anticipated, or are there any portions that jumped off the screen at you? Do the numbers affect your predictions?

For everything else you need to know about the clash between Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping, be sure to check out our complete fight archive right here.