Donald Cerrone vs. John Makdessi
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Donald Cerrone
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 23 | 14 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 13 | 3 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.09 · 23 tier-1/2 wins · 27 finish wins over 55 documented bouts
In the UFC: 20-13 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.8 wins over .500
John Makdessi
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 11 | 9 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 7 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.02 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 27 documented bouts
In the UFC: 6-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.1 wins over .500
Striking
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Donald Cerrone
Distance 89.1% (norm 83.1%) · Clinch 6.2% (norm 7.3%) · Ground 4.7% (norm 8.0%)
John Makdessi
Distance 93.7% (norm 83.1%) · Clinch 4.3% (norm 7.3%) · Ground 2.0% (norm 8.0%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Donald Cerrone
Head 71.3% (norm 78.0%) · Body 16.0% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 12.8% (norm 8.0%)
John Makdessi
Head 63.5% (norm 78.0%) · Body 21.1% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 15.5% (norm 8.0%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Cerrone L/A | Acc | Lightweight med | Makdessi L/A | Acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 1478 / 3290 | 44.9% | 38.3% | 1249 / 2520 | 49.6% | 38.3% |
| In the clinch | 151 / 229 | 65.9% | 67.5% | 64 / 115 | 55.7% | 67.5% |
| On the ground | 119 / 172 | 69.2% | 68.8% | 27 / 55 | 49.1% | 68.8% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 893 / 2630 | 34.0% | 35.1% | 678 / 1707 | 39.7% | 35.1% |
| To the body | 442 / 589 | 75.0% | 69.1% | 325 / 567 | 57.3% | 69.1% |
| To the legs | 413 / 472 | 87.5% | 81.8% | 337 / 416 | 81.0% | 81.8% |
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 (Lightweight: 204 fighters · Lightweight: 204 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 Cerrone L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med | vs Makdessi L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 1558 / 3375 | 46.2% | 38.8% | 942 / 3050 | 30.9% | 38.8% |
| In the clinch | 211 / 305 | 69.2% | 68.6% | 41 / 66 | 62.1% | 68.6% |
| On the ground | 56 / 88 | 63.6% | 68.0% | 25 / 38 | 65.8% | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 1069 / 2721 | 39.3% | 35.2% | 572 / 2497 | 22.9% | 35.2% |
| To the body | 444 / 668 | 66.5% | 68.2% | 204 / 363 | 56.2% | 68.2% |
| To the legs | 312 / 379 | 82.3% | 81.5% | 232 / 294 | 78.9% | 81.5% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Cerrone has more cage time on record.