BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Colby Covington vs.
Warlley Alves

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

12-5-0 Colby Covington · UFC
8-8-0 Warlley Alves · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

12-5-0
UFC record
8-8-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
38
AgeΔ 3 yrs
35
5'11"
HeightΔ 0"
5'11"
72"
ReachΔ 0"
72"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
19.7
Layoff (months)Δ 6.9 mo
26.6
LLWLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLLW
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.

Colby Covington hunts takedowns — 3.64 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Colby Covington owns the mat — in control 43% of cage time, vs a 18% Welterweight norm.
Warlley Alves is a submission threat — 0.85 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Welterweight 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.

Colby Covington

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 125
Tier 3 — regional circuit 50

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.42 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 8 finish wins over 22 documented bouts

In the UFC: 9-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.7 wins over .500

Warlley Alves

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 88
Tier 3 — regional circuit 60

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.02 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 22 documented bouts

In the UFC: 5-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.4 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

10993.81/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
4853.04/min · norm 3.17
8903.09/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
6293.95/min · norm 3.06
38.5%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
48.1%norm 44.9%
54.8%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
50.7%norm 55.25%
10.05/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
30.28/15 · norm 0.38

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

Colby Covington

Distance 88.7% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 5.6% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 5.7% (norm 8.1%)

Warlley Alves

Distance 85.3% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 9.6% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 5.1% (norm 8.1%)

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

Colby Covington

Head 83.9% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.3% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 6.8% (norm 8.4%)

Warlley Alves

Head 70.9% (norm 78.2%) · Body 15.6% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 13.6% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Covington L/AAccWelterweight med Alves L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 876 / 2533 34.6% 38.6% 379 / 861 44.0% 38.6%
In the clinch 107 / 159 67.3% 67.8% 71 / 97 73.2% 67.8%
On the ground 116 / 164 70.7% 67.2% 35 / 51 68.6% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 763 / 2396 31.8% 37.2% 268 / 715 37.5% 37.2%
To the body 174 / 265 65.7% 70.7% 111 / 157 70.7% 70.7%
To the legs 162 / 195 83.1% 82.9% 106 / 137 77.4% 82.9%

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 (Welterweight: 182 fighters · Welterweight: 182 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 Covington L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Alves L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 740 / 1790 41.3% 39.0% 466 / 1046 44.6% 39.0%
In the clinch 95 / 112 84.8% 68.9% 128 / 168 76.2% 68.9%
On the ground 55 / 66 83.3% 68.0% 35 / 62 56.5% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 578 / 1561 37.0% 35.6% 423 / 995 42.5% 35.6%
To the body 209 / 290 72.1% 69.6% 150 / 210 71.4% 69.6%
To the legs 103 / 117 88.0% 82.1% 56 / 71 78.9% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

7042.7% acc · 3.64/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
1350.0% acc · 1.22/15 · norm 1.27
2069.0% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
1763.0% def · norm 63.9%
125:0443.4% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
35:0822.1% of cage time · norm 18.5%
9:010:28 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
37:263:31 per 15 · norm 3:15
30.16/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
90.85/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.