Benoit Saint Denis vs.
Mauricio Ruffy
Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.
The men, measured.
Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.
What the numbers say.
Scouting notes, auto-generated — only stats deviating more than 25% from the division median make this list. No narratives, just deviations.
Who did they actually beat?
Full-career records re-graded by the tier of opposition — the same grading the Contender Series pick model uses. Records built on tier-4 competition are worth less than records built on killers.
Benoit Saint Denis
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 9 | 4 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 8 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.53 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 17 finish wins over 22 documented bouts
In the UFC: 6-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.9 wins over .500
Mauricio Ruffy
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 6 | 1 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 7 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.58 · 6 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 15 documented bouts
In the UFC: 2-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.5 wins over .500
The stand-up battle.
Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Benoit Saint Denis
Distance 59.2% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 12.7% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 28.1% (norm 8.0%)
Mauricio Ruffy
Distance 87.0% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 2.0% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 11.1% (norm 8.0%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Benoit Saint Denis
Head 74.2% (norm 78.2%) · Body 19.3% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 6.5% (norm 7.9%)
Mauricio Ruffy
Head 86.6% (norm 78.2%) · Body 5.9% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 7.5% (norm 7.9%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Denis L/A | Acc | Lightweight med | Ruffy L/A | Acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 245 / 490 | 50.0% | 37.9% | 147 / 267 | 55.1% | 37.9% |
| In the clinch | 87 / 105 | 82.9% | 67.3% | 5 / 6 | too few to rate | 67.3% |
| On the ground | 152 / 233 | 65.2% | 69.1% | 23 / 34 | 67.6% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 304 / 614 | 49.5% | 35.0% | 143 / 266 | 53.8% | 35.0% |
| To the body | 128 / 160 | 80.0% | 69.1% | 12 / 18 | too few to rate | 69.1% |
| To the legs | 52 / 54 | 96.3% | 81.9% | 20 / 23 | too few to rate | 81.9% |
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 (Lightweight: 201 fighters · Lightweight: 201 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 Denis L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med | vs Ruffy L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 259 / 489 | 53.0% | 38.9% | 139 / 370 | 37.6% | 38.9% |
| In the clinch | 55 / 79 | 69.6% | 68.6% | 20 / 26 | 76.9% | 68.6% |
| On the ground | 41 / 44 | 93.2% | 68.0% | 5 / 9 | too few to rate | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 241 / 479 | 50.3% | 35.1% | 57 / 242 | 23.6% | 35.1% |
| To the body | 78 / 94 | 83.0% | 68.1% | 67 / 105 | 63.8% | 68.1% |
| To the legs | 36 / 39 | 92.3% | 81.5% | 40 / 58 | 69.0% | 81.5% |
The ground war.
Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Denis has more cage time on record.