Diego Sanchez vs.
Gilbert Melendez
Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.
The men, measured.
Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.
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.
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.
Diego Sanchez
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 19 | 13 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 11 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.1 · 19 tier-1/2 wins · 16 finish wins over 44 documented bouts
In the UFC: 10-12 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.6 wins over .500
Gilbert Melendez
Full career not yet synced for Gilbert Melendez — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 1-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.9 wins over .500
The stand-up battle.
Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Diego Sanchez
Distance 74.5% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 6.6% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 18.9% (norm 8.1%)
Gilbert Melendez
Distance 93.5% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 5.3% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 1.2% (norm 8.0%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Diego Sanchez
Head 83.1% (norm 78.2%) · Body 13.3% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 3.5% (norm 8.4%)
Gilbert Melendez
Head 89.7% (norm 78.2%) · Body 7.3% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 3.0% (norm 7.9%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Sanchez L/A | Acc | Welterweight med | Melendez L/A | Acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 612 / 2110 | 29.0% | 38.6% | 257 / 953 | 27.0% | 37.9% |
| In the clinch | 112 / 188 | 59.6% | 67.8% | 30 / 54 | 55.6% | 67.3% |
| On the ground | 334 / 535 | 62.4% | 67.2% | 7 / 12 | too few to rate | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 730 / 2355 | 31.0% | 37.2% | 229 / 914 | 25.1% | 35.0% |
| To the body | 250 / 378 | 66.1% | 70.7% | 45 / 74 | 60.8% | 69.1% |
| To the legs | 78 / 100 | 78.0% | 82.9% | 20 / 31 | 64.5% | 81.9% |
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 · Lightweight: 201 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 Sanchez L/A | Opp acc | Welterweight med | vs Melendez L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 862 / 2235 | 38.6% | 39.0% | 388 / 983 | 39.5% | 38.9% |
| In the clinch | 198 / 303 | 65.3% | 68.9% | 21 / 33 | 63.6% | 68.6% |
| On the ground | 178 / 309 | 57.6% | 68.0% | 16 / 24 | too few to rate | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 954 / 2483 | 38.4% | 35.6% | 228 / 779 | 29.3% | 35.1% |
| To the body | 178 / 236 | 75.4% | 69.6% | 88 / 131 | 67.2% | 68.1% |
| To the legs | 106 / 128 | 82.8% | 82.1% | 109 / 130 | 83.8% | 81.5% |
The ground war.
Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Sanchez has more cage time on record.