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Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson

UFC 11-3-0 (1 NC) vs. 13-6-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
11-3-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
13-6-0
Light Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
47
AgeΔ 5 yrs
42
5'11"
HeightΔ 3"
6'2"
72"
ReachΔ 6"
78"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
74.1
Layoff (months)Δ 40.3 mo
114.4
LLWWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LWWWL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Anthony Johnson carries real power — 1.66 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.38 Welterweight norm.
Daniel Cormier is a submission threat — 0.58 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Light Heavyweight norm.
Anthony Johnson owns the mat — in control 37% of cage time, vs a 18% Welterweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Daniel Cormier

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 113
Tier 3 — regional circuit 110

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.61 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 26 documented bouts

In the UFC: 10-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +7.5 wins over .500

Anthony Johnson

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 156
Tier 3 — regional circuit 80

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.55 · 15 tier-1/2 wins · 17 finish wins over 29 documented bouts

In the UFC: 10-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.0 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

9114.39/min · norm 3.48
Sig. strikes landed
3813.25/min · norm 3.17
7283.51/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
2151.83/min · norm 3.08
54.7%norm 48.45%
Striking accuracy
47.6%norm 44.75%
50.5%norm 52.75%
Striking defense
60.4%norm 55.25%
20.14/15 · norm 0.40
Knockdowns
131.66/15 · norm 0.38

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

Daniel Cormier

Distance 70.6% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 17.1% (norm 8.8%) · Ground 12.3% (norm 10.6%)

Anthony Johnson

Distance 69.4% (norm 80.7%) · Clinch 11.6% (norm 9.6%) · Ground 19.0% (norm 8.1%)

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

Daniel Cormier

Head 81.7% (norm 78.5%) · Body 10.0% (norm 11.8%) · Legs 8.3% (norm 9.7%)

Anthony Johnson

Head 79.9% (norm 78.3%) · Body 9.6% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 10.5% (norm 8.0%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Cormier L/AAccLight Heavyweight med Johnson L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 546 / 1175 46.5% 41.5% 214 / 555 38.6% 38.5%
In the clinch 209 / 284 73.6% 70.8% 67 / 93 72.0% 67.8%
On the ground 156 / 205 76.1% 72.9% 100 / 152 65.8% 67.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 682 / 1359 50.2% 39.2% 255 / 639 39.9% 36.4%
To the body 119 / 167 71.3% 72.0% 57 / 77 74.0% 70.7%
To the legs 110 / 138 79.7% 82.1% 69 / 84 82.1% 83.0%

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 (Light Heavyweight: 94 fighters · Welterweight: 180 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 Cormier L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med vs Johnson L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 570 / 1236 46.1% 40.6% 112 / 408 27.5% 39.1%
In the clinch 134 / 201 66.7% 68.8% 45 / 64 70.3% 68.9%
On the ground 24 / 33 72.7% 70.4% 58 / 71 81.7% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 412 / 1062 38.8% 37.7% 133 / 409 32.5% 35.6%
To the body 199 / 256 77.7% 72.9% 28 / 60 46.7% 69.6%
To the legs 117 / 152 77.0% 83.1% 54 / 74 73.0% 82.2%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
2346.0% acc · 1.66/15 · norm 0.87
Takedowns landed
1957.6% acc · 2.43/15 · norm 1.31
2676.5% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
2477.4% def · norm 63.9%
62:5230.3% of cage time · norm 17.1%
Control time
43:2537.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
20:401:29 per 15 · norm 2:50
Time under control lower is better
23:192:58 per 15 · norm 3:15
80.58/15 · norm 0.28
Submission attempts
50.64/15 · norm 0.44

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