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Claudio Puelles vs. Fares Ziam

UFC 5-4-0 vs. 8-4-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
5-4-0
UFC record
8-4-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
30
AgeΔ 1 yrs
29
5'10"
HeightΔ 3"
6'1"
72"
ReachΔ 3"
75"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
13.2
Layoff (months)Δ 11.7 mo
1.5
LLLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWWW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Claudio Puelles hunts takedowns — 3.29 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.34 Lightweight norm.
Claudio Puelles owns the mat — in control 45% of cage time, vs a 19% Lightweight norm.
Fares Ziam is hard to hit — absorbs 1.63 sig. strikes per minute, vs a 3.38 Lightweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Claudio Puelles

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 54
Tier 3 — regional circuit 71

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.04 · 5 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 17 documented bouts

In the UFC: 2-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.9 wins over .500

Fares Ziam

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 83
Tier 3 — regional circuit 102

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.13 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 11 finish wins over 23 documented bouts

In the UFC: 4-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.2 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

1611.54/min · norm 3.44
Sig. strikes landed
3962.70/min · norm 3.44
2752.62/min · norm 3.38
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
2391.63/min · norm 3.38
46.7%norm 43.65%
Striking accuracy
52.5%norm 43.65%
48.1%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
63.1%norm 56.3%
00.00/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
20.20/15 · norm 0.25

Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)

Claudio Puelles

Distance 70.7% (norm 83.1%) · Clinch 5.2% (norm 7.3%) · Ground 24.1% (norm 8.0%)

Fares Ziam

Distance 76.8% (norm 83.1%) · Clinch 8.6% (norm 7.3%) · Ground 14.6% (norm 8.0%)

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

Claudio Puelles

Head 75.1% (norm 78.0%) · Body 21.2% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 3.8% (norm 8.0%)

Fares Ziam

Head 78.8% (norm 78.0%) · Body 11.4% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 9.8% (norm 8.0%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.

Zone Puelles L/AAccLightweight med Ziam L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 90 / 244 36.9% 38.3% 278 / 580 47.9% 38.3%
In the clinch 10 / 18 too few to rate 67.5% 49 / 65 75.4% 67.5%
On the ground 61 / 83 73.5% 68.8% 69 / 110 62.7% 68.8%
BY TARGET
To the head 100 / 259 38.6% 35.1% 255 / 595 42.9% 35.1%
To the body 52 / 73 71.2% 69.1% 74 / 86 86.0% 69.1%
To the legs 9 / 13 too few to rate 81.8% 67 / 74 90.5% 81.8%

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 (Lightweight: 204 fighters · Lightweight: 204 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 Puelles L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Ziam L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 175 / 388 45.1% 38.8% 163 / 522 31.2% 38.8%
In the clinch 23 / 35 65.7% 68.6% 36 / 60 60.0% 68.6%
On the ground 77 / 107 72.0% 68.0% 40 / 66 60.6% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 151 / 370 40.8% 35.2% 101 / 449 22.5% 35.2%
To the body 77 / 104 74.0% 68.2% 80 / 121 66.1% 68.2%
To the legs 47 / 56 83.9% 81.5% 58 / 78 74.4% 81.5%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
2333.8% acc · 3.29/15 · norm 1.34
Takedowns landed
1842.9% acc · 1.84/15 · norm 1.34
660.0% def · norm 63.7%
Takedowns stopped
5170.8% def · norm 63.7%
46:4544.6% of cage time · norm 18.95%
Control time
39:3026.9% of cage time · norm 18.95%
17:282:29 per 15 · norm 2:50
Time under control lower is better
48:585:00 per 15 · norm 2:50
71.00/15 · norm 0.48
Submission attempts
50.51/15 · norm 0.48

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