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Curtis Blaydes vs. Alexander Volkov

UFC 15-6-0 (1 NC) vs. 14-5-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
15-6-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
14-5-0
Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Heavyweight
35
AgeΔ 2 yrs
37
6'4"
HeightΔ 3"
6'7"
80"
ReachΔ 0"
80"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
1.2
Layoff (months)Δ 4.2 mo
5.4
WLWLW
Last 5 (newest first)
WWLWW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Curtis Blaydes hunts takedowns — 5.04 per 15 minutes, vs a 0.90 Heavyweight norm.
Curtis Blaydes owns the mat — in control 44% of cage time, vs a 17% Heavyweight norm.
Alexander Volkov outworks the Heavyweight division — 5.08 sig. strikes landed per minute, vs a 3.28 norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Curtis Blaydes

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 145
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 10
Tier 3 — regional circuit 40

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.53 · 15 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 25 documented bouts

In the UFC: 12-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.7 wins over .500

Alexander Volkov

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 218
Tier 3 — regional circuit 193

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.34 · 21 tier-1/2 wins · 28 finish wins over 51 documented bouts

In the UFC: 12-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.3 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

8333.99/min · norm 3.28
Sig. strikes landed
12505.08/min · norm 3.28
5622.70/min · norm 3.19
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
7523.06/min · norm 3.19
51.2%norm 47.5%
Striking accuracy
57.7%norm 47.5%
55.2%norm 52.5%
Striking defense
54.4%norm 52.5%
20.14/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
40.24/15 · norm 0.29

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

Curtis Blaydes

Distance 70.5% (norm 79.2%) · Clinch 10.9% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 18.6% (norm 9.3%)

Alexander Volkov

Distance 88.1% (norm 79.2%) · Clinch 6.8% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 5.1% (norm 9.3%)

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

Curtis Blaydes

Head 83.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 6.6% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 10.4% (norm 7.6%)

Alexander Volkov

Head 70.8% (norm 79.2%) · Body 15.8% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 13.4% (norm 7.6%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Blaydes L/AAccHeavyweight med Volkov L/AAccHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 444 / 1146 38.7% 40.1% 1056 / 1909 55.3% 40.1%
In the clinch 145 / 177 81.9% 70.4% 104 / 148 70.3% 70.4%
On the ground 244 / 303 80.5% 70.2% 90 / 111 81.1% 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 590 / 1349 43.7% 39.0% 734 / 1535 47.8% 39.0%
To the body 93 / 108 86.1% 77.0% 269 / 342 78.7% 77.0%
To the legs 150 / 169 88.8% 87.8% 247 / 291 84.9% 87.8%

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 (Heavyweight: 93 fighters · Heavyweight: 93 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 Blaydes L/AOpp accHeavyweight med vs Volkov L/AOpp accHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 455 / 1116 40.8% 40.7% 593 / 1430 41.5% 40.7%
In the clinch 82 / 108 75.9% 70.6% 42 / 58 72.4% 70.6%
On the ground 25 / 30 83.3% 72.2% 117 / 162 72.2% 72.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 461 / 1124 41.0% 39.3% 420 / 1199 35.0% 39.3%
To the body 64 / 87 73.6% 75.1% 153 / 230 66.5% 75.1%
To the legs 37 / 43 86.0% 84.4% 179 / 221 81.0% 84.4%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
7047.3% acc · 5.04/15 · norm 0.90
Takedowns landed
1062.5% acc · 0.61/15 · norm 0.90
735.0% def · norm 63.2%
Takedowns stopped
6869.4% def · norm 63.2%
91:2043.8% of cage time · norm 17.2%
Control time
22:539.3% of cage time · norm 17.2%
8:550:38 per 15 · norm 2:28
Time under control lower is better
56:093:25 per 15 · norm 2:28
00.00/15 · norm 0.16
Submission attempts
20.12/15 · norm 0.16

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