BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Carla Esparza vs.
Randa Markos

Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.

10-6-0 Carla Esparza · UFC
7-10-1 Randa Markos · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.

10-6-0
UFC record
7-10-1
Women's Strawweight
Division (benchmark)
Women's Strawweight
38.8
AgeΔ 2.2 yrs
41
5'1"
HeightΔ 3"
5'4"
63"
ReachΔ 0"
63"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
22
Layoff (months)Δ 35.4 mo
57.4
LLWWW
Last 5 (newest first)
WLLLL
The read

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.

Carla Esparza hunts takedowns — 3.28 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.10 Women's Strawweight norm.
Carla Esparza owns the mat — in control 28% of cage time, vs a 19% Women's Strawweight norm.
Randa Markos owns the mat — in control 26% of cage time, vs a 19% Women's Strawweight norm.
Level of competition

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 tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 108
Tier 3 — regional circuit 90

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

Randa Markos

Full career not yet synced for Randa Markos — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 3-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.2 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4922.19/min · norm 3.77
Sig. strikes landed
6742.97/min · norm 3.77
6442.87/min · norm 3.94
Sig. strikes absorbed
7043.10/min · norm 3.94
39.5%norm 44.5%
Striking accuracy
43.7%norm 44.5%
54.4%norm 54.4%
Striking defense
58.7%norm 54.4%
00.00/15 · norm 0.00
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.00

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%)

Randa Markos

Distance 78.0% (norm 86.9%) · Clinch 12.4% (norm 7.7%) · Ground 9.6% (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%)

Randa Markos

Head 86.4% (norm 76.4%) · Body 6.6% (norm 14.9%) · Legs 7.0% (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/AAccWomen's Strawweight med Markos L/AAccWomen's Strawweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 280 / 935 29.9% 38.3% 410 / 1205 34.0% 38.3%
In the clinch 63 / 106 59.4% 72.6% 143 / 191 74.9% 72.6%
On the ground 149 / 206 72.3% 75.0% 121 / 148 81.8% 75.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 363 / 1072 33.9% 35.4% 513 / 1334 38.5% 35.4%
To the body 71 / 101 70.3% 69.3% 76 / 102 74.5% 69.3%
To the legs 58 / 74 78.4% 77.9% 85 / 108 78.7% 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/AOpp accWomen's Strawweight med vs Markos L/AOpp accWomen's Strawweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 409 / 1103 37.1% 39.7% 472 / 1399 33.7% 39.7%
In the clinch 53 / 87 60.9% 71.5% 102 / 142 71.8% 71.5%
On the ground 182 / 222 82.0% 74.4% 130 / 164 79.3% 74.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 473 / 1195 39.6% 36.0% 463 / 1379 33.6% 36.0%
To the body 90 / 119 75.6% 68.4% 113 / 165 68.5% 68.4%
To the legs 81 / 98 82.7% 79.1% 128 / 161 79.5% 79.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.

4936.3% acc · 3.28/15 · norm 1.10
Takedowns landed
1728.8% acc · 1.12/15 · norm 1.10
1747.2% def · norm 64.1%
Takedowns stopped
3052.6% def · norm 64.1%
63:2828.3% of cage time · norm 19.4%
Control time
58:5125.9% of cage time · norm 19.4%
32:352:10 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
57:133:46 per 15 · norm 3:00
40.27/15 · norm 0.29
Submission attempts
30.20/15 · norm 0.29

Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Markos has more cage time on record.

Next move

Let the engine settle it.