Carla Esparza vs.
Yan Xiaonan
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
Yan Xiaonan
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 9 | 4 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 10 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.14 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 25 documented bouts
In the UFC: 5-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.5 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)
Carla Esparza
Distance 75.0% (norm 86.9%) · Clinch 8.5% (norm 7.7%) · Ground 16.5% (norm 5.0%)
Yan Xiaonan
Distance 91.7% (norm 86.9%) · Clinch 5.1% (norm 7.7%) · Ground 3.2% (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%)
Yan Xiaonan
Head 78.6% (norm 76.4%) · Body 8.7% (norm 14.9%) · Legs 12.7% (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 | Xiaonan L/A | Acc | Women's Strawweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 280 / 935 | 29.9% | 38.3% | 793 / 1862 | 42.6% | 38.3% |
| In the clinch | 63 / 106 | 59.4% | 72.6% | 69 / 103 | 67.0% | 72.6% |
| On the ground | 149 / 206 | 72.3% | 75.0% | 54 / 65 | 83.1% | 75.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 363 / 1072 | 33.9% | 35.4% | 599 / 1596 | 37.5% | 35.4% |
| To the body | 71 / 101 | 70.3% | 69.3% | 121 / 177 | 68.4% | 69.3% |
| To the legs | 58 / 74 | 78.4% | 77.9% | 196 / 257 | 76.3% | 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 Xiaonan L/A | Opp acc | Women's Strawweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 409 / 1103 | 37.1% | 39.7% | 461 / 1367 | 33.7% | 39.7% |
| In the clinch | 53 / 87 | 60.9% | 71.5% | 55 / 86 | 64.0% | 71.5% |
| On the ground | 182 / 222 | 82.0% | 74.4% | 115 / 135 | 85.2% | 74.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 473 / 1195 | 39.6% | 36.0% | 445 / 1307 | 34.0% | 36.0% |
| To the body | 90 / 119 | 75.6% | 68.4% | 113 / 173 | 65.3% | 68.4% |
| To the legs | 81 / 98 | 82.7% | 79.1% | 73 / 108 | 67.6% | 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.