Carla Esparza vs.
Marina Rodriguez
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.
Carla Esparza
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 10 | 8 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 9 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.0 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 8 finish wins over 27 documented bouts
In the UFC: 8-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.1 wins over .500
Marina Rodriguez
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 8 | 6 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 1 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 8 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.05 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 8 finish wins over 25 documented bouts
In the UFC: 5-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.7 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)
Carla Esparza
Distance 75.0% (norm 86.9%) · Clinch 8.5% (norm 7.7%) · Ground 16.5% (norm 5.0%)
Marina Rodriguez
Distance 81.7% (norm 86.9%) · Clinch 13.9% (norm 7.7%) · Ground 4.4% (norm 5.0%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Carla Esparza
Head 86.0% (norm 76.4%) · Body 8.1% (norm 14.9%) · Legs 5.9% (norm 9.1%)
Marina Rodriguez
Head 73.1% (norm 76.4%) · Body 16.0% (norm 14.9%) · Legs 10.8% (norm 9.1%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Esparza L/A | Acc | Women's Strawweight med | Rodriguez L/A | Acc | Women's Strawweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 280 / 935 | 29.9% | 38.3% | 653 / 1703 | 38.3% | 38.3% |
| In the clinch | 63 / 106 | 59.4% | 72.6% | 229 / 290 | 79.0% | 72.6% |
| On the ground | 149 / 206 | 72.3% | 75.0% | 73 / 91 | 80.2% | 75.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 363 / 1072 | 33.9% | 35.4% | 552 / 1524 | 36.2% | 35.4% |
| To the body | 71 / 101 | 70.3% | 69.3% | 236 / 334 | 70.7% | 69.3% |
| To the legs | 58 / 74 | 78.4% | 77.9% | 167 / 226 | 73.9% | 77.9% |
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 (Women's Strawweight: 63 fighters · Women's Strawweight: 63 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 Esparza L/A | Opp acc | Women's Strawweight med | vs Rodriguez L/A | Opp acc | Women's Strawweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 409 / 1103 | 37.1% | 39.7% | 420 / 1152 | 36.5% | 39.7% |
| In the clinch | 53 / 87 | 60.9% | 71.5% | 93 / 137 | 67.9% | 71.5% |
| On the ground | 182 / 222 | 82.0% | 74.4% | 141 / 195 | 72.3% | 74.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 473 / 1195 | 39.6% | 36.0% | 403 / 1112 | 36.2% | 36.0% |
| To the body | 90 / 119 | 75.6% | 68.4% | 146 / 214 | 68.2% | 68.4% |
| To the legs | 81 / 98 | 82.7% | 79.1% | 105 / 158 | 66.5% | 79.1% |
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 — Esparza has more cage time on record.