Alexander Volkanovski vs. Islam Makhachev
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Alexander Volkanovski
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 15 | 3 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 13 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.55 · 15 tier-1/2 wins · 16 finish wins over 32 documented bouts
In the UFC: 12-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +6.4 wins over .500
Islam Makhachev
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 17 | 1 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 11 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 2.04 · 17 tier-1/2 wins · 18 finish wins over 29 documented bouts
In the UFC: 16-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +6.0 wins over .500
Striking
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Alexander Volkanovski
Distance 80.8% (norm 85.9%) · Clinch 6.7% (norm 6.0%) · Ground 12.6% (norm 6.5%)
Islam Makhachev
Distance 69.0% (norm 83.1%) · Clinch 12.8% (norm 7.3%) · Ground 18.2% (norm 8.0%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Alexander Volkanovski
Head 73.1% (norm 77.5%) · Body 8.8% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 18.0% (norm 7.9%)
Islam Makhachev
Head 80.4% (norm 78.0%) · Body 15.0% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 4.6% (norm 8.0%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Volkanovski L/A | Acc | Featherweight med | Makhachev L/A | Acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 1387 / 2567 | 54.0% | 40.5% | 293 / 603 | 48.6% | 38.3% |
| In the clinch | 154 / 212 | 72.6% | 70.5% | 95 / 112 | 84.8% | 67.5% |
| On the ground | 274 / 399 | 68.7% | 69.3% | 119 / 159 | 74.8% | 68.8% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 1180 / 2324 | 50.8% | 37.1% | 353 / 703 | 50.2% | 35.1% |
| To the body | 188 / 281 | 66.9% | 68.0% | 117 / 131 | 89.3% | 69.1% |
| To the legs | 447 / 573 | 78.0% | 80.3% | 37 / 40 | 92.5% | 81.8% |
Zones with fewer than 25 attempts are marked "too few to rate". Each fighter is measured against the median of leaderboard-eligible fighters in his own division (Featherweight: 127 fighters · Lightweight: 204 fighters).
What lands on them Opponents' accuracy against each man
Green ≤ division median — harder to hit than the typical man in his division.
| Zone | vs Volkanovski L/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med | vs Makhachev L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 883 / 2278 | 38.8% | 39.3% | 228 / 707 | 32.2% | 38.8% |
| In the clinch | 95 / 126 | 75.4% | 70.3% | 69 / 84 | 82.1% | 68.6% |
| On the ground | 25 / 27 | 92.6% | 69.4% | 19 / 29 | 65.5% | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 604 / 1851 | 32.6% | 35.9% | 150 / 566 | 26.5% | 35.2% |
| To the body | 242 / 356 | 68.0% | 68.0% | 110 / 178 | 61.8% | 68.2% |
| To the legs | 157 / 224 | 70.1% | 81.5% | 56 / 76 | 73.7% | 81.5% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Makhachev has more cage time on record.