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Carla Esparza vs. Yan Xiaonan

UFC 10-6-0 vs. 9-5-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
10-6-0
UFC record
9-5-0
Women's Strawweight
Division (benchmark)
Women's Strawweight
39
AgeΔ 2 yrs
37
5'1"
HeightΔ 4"
5'5"
63"
ReachΔ 0"
63"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
24.5
Layoff (months)Δ 22.8 mo
1.7
LLWWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWLW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
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.
Yan Xiaonan rarely shoots — 0.82 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.10 Women's Strawweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

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

Yan Xiaonan

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 94
Tier 3 — regional circuit 101

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.14 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 25 documented bouts

In the UFC: 5-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.6 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4922.19/min · norm 3.77
Sig. strikes landed
9354.67/min · norm 3.77
6442.87/min · norm 4.00
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
6493.24/min · norm 4.00
39.5%norm 44.5%
Striking accuracy
44.8%norm 44.5%
54.4%norm 54.4%
Striking defense
60.3%norm 54.4%
00.00/15 · norm 0.00
Knockdowns
20.15/15 · 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%)

Yan Xiaonan

Distance 91.8% (norm 86.9%) · Clinch 5.1% (norm 7.7%) · Ground 3.1% (norm 5.0%)

What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)

Carla Esparza

Head 86.0% (norm 76.6%) · Body 8.1% (norm 14.9%) · Legs 5.9% (norm 9.1%)

Yan Xiaonan

Head 78.4% (norm 76.6%) · Body 8.8% (norm 14.9%) · Legs 12.9% (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 Yan L/AAccWomen's Strawweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 280 / 935 29.9% 38.3% 811 / 1918 42.3% 38.3%
In the clinch 63 / 106 59.4% 72.6% 70 / 106 66.0% 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% 610 / 1637 37.3% 35.4%
To the body 71 / 101 70.3% 69.3% 124 / 183 67.8% 69.3%
To the legs 58 / 74 78.4% 77.9% 201 / 269 74.7% 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 Yan L/AOpp accWomen's Strawweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 409 / 1103 37.1% 39.7% 477 / 1412 33.8% 39.7%
In the clinch 53 / 87 60.9% 71.2% 55 / 86 64.0% 71.2%
On the ground 182 / 222 82.0% 74.4% 117 / 138 84.8% 74.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 473 / 1195 39.6% 36.0% 457 / 1342 34.1% 36.0%
To the body 90 / 119 75.6% 68.7% 116 / 178 65.2% 68.7%
To the legs 81 / 98 82.7% 79.1% 76 / 116 65.5% 79.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
4936.3% acc · 3.28/15 · norm 1.10
Takedowns landed
1173.3% acc · 0.82/15 · norm 1.10
1747.2% def · norm 64.1%
Takedowns stopped
3764.9% def · norm 64.1%
63:2828.3% of cage time · norm 19.0%
Control time
15:517.9% of cage time · norm 19.0%
32:352:10 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control lower is better
57:274:18 per 15 · norm 3:00
40.27/15 · norm 0.29
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.29

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