Curtis Blaydes vs. Francis Ngannou
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Curtis Blaydes
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 14 | 5 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 1 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 4 | 0 |
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
Francis Ngannou
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 13 | 2 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 5 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 2.02 · 13 tier-1/2 wins · 17 finish wins over 21 documented bouts
In the UFC: 8-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.3 wins over .500
Striking
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
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%)
Francis Ngannou
Distance 79.5% (norm 79.2%) · Clinch 8.6% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 11.9% (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%)
Francis Ngannou
Head 82.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 11.5% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 6.5% (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/A | Acc | Heavyweight med | Ngannou L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 444 / 1146 | 38.7% | 40.1% | 150 / 441 | 34.0% | 40.1% |
| In the clinch | 145 / 177 | 81.9% | 70.4% | 36 / 48 | 75.0% | 70.4% |
| On the ground | 244 / 303 | 80.5% | 70.2% | 43 / 66 | 65.2% | 70.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 590 / 1349 | 43.7% | 39.0% | 156 / 455 | 34.3% | 39.0% |
| To the body | 93 / 108 | 86.1% | 77.0% | 41 / 64 | 64.1% | 77.0% |
| To the legs | 150 / 169 | 88.8% | 87.8% | 32 / 36 | 88.9% | 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/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med | vs Ngannou L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 455 / 1116 | 40.8% | 40.7% | 168 / 306 | 54.9% | 40.7% |
| In the clinch | 82 / 108 | 75.9% | 70.6% | 16 / 21 | too few to rate | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 25 / 30 | 83.3% | 72.2% | 28 / 38 | 73.7% | 72.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 461 / 1124 | 41.0% | 39.3% | 92 / 210 | 43.8% | 39.3% |
| To the body | 64 / 87 | 73.6% | 75.1% | 46 / 67 | 68.7% | 75.1% |
| To the legs | 37 / 43 | 86.0% | 84.4% | 74 / 88 | 84.1% | 84.4% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Blaydes has more cage time on record.