Cain Velasquez vs.
Francis Ngannou
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.
Cain Velasquez
Full career not yet synced for Cain Velasquez — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 8-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.6 wins over .500
Francis Ngannou
Full career not yet synced for Francis Ngannou — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 8-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.3 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)
Cain Velasquez
Distance 48.1% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 21.8% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 30.1% (norm 9.3%)
Francis Ngannou
Distance 79.5% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 8.6% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 11.9% (norm 9.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Cain Velasquez
Head 83.7% (norm 79.2%) · Body 7.1% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 9.1% (norm 7.6%)
Francis Ngannou
Head 82.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 11.5% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 6.5% (norm 7.6%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Velasquez L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med | Ngannou L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 260 / 601 | 43.3% | 40.1% | 150 / 441 | 34.0% | 40.1% |
| In the clinch | 195 / 272 | 71.7% | 70.6% | 36 / 48 | 75.0% | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 264 / 376 | 70.2% | 70.2% | 43 / 66 | 65.2% | 70.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 542 / 1046 | 51.8% | 38.9% | 156 / 455 | 34.3% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 77 / 89 | 86.5% | 76.8% | 41 / 64 | 64.1% | 76.8% |
| To the legs | 100 / 114 | 87.7% | 87.8% | 32 / 36 | 88.9% | 87.8% |
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 (Heavyweight: 93 fighters · Heavyweight: 93 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 Velasquez L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med | vs Ngannou L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 186 / 506 | 36.8% | 40.7% | 168 / 306 | 54.9% | 40.7% |
| In the clinch | 69 / 106 | 65.1% | 70.6% | 16 / 21 | too few to rate | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 11 / 16 | too few to rate | 72.0% | 28 / 38 | 73.7% | 72.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 196 / 532 | 36.8% | 38.8% | 92 / 210 | 43.8% | 38.8% |
| To the body | 60 / 85 | 70.6% | 75.1% | 46 / 67 | 68.7% | 75.1% |
| To the legs | 10 / 11 | too few to rate | 84.4% | 74 / 88 | 84.1% | 84.4% |
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 — Velasquez has more cage time on record.