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Edson Barboza vs. Makwan Amirkhani

UFC 18-15-0 vs. 7-7-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
18-15-0
UFC record
7-7-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
40
AgeΔ 3 yrs
37
5'11"
HeightΔ 1"
5'10"
75"
ReachΔ 3"
72"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
2.2
Layoff (months)Δ 40.9 mo
43.1
LLLLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWLL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Makwan Amirkhani hunts takedowns — 3.96 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.17 Featherweight norm.
Edson Barboza carries real power — 0.62 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.25 Lightweight norm.
Makwan Amirkhani is a submission threat — 1.05 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Featherweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Edson Barboza

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1814
Tier 3 — regional circuit 60

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.06 · 18 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 38 documented bouts

In the UFC: 13-13 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.2 wins over .500

Makwan Amirkhani

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 77
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 41
Tier 3 — regional circuit 93

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.78 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 31 documented bouts

In the UFC: 4-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.4 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

16164.15/min · norm 3.44
Sig. strikes landed
1711.33/min · norm 3.52
18554.76/min · norm 3.38
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
3842.98/min · norm 3.50
44.7%norm 43.65%
Striking accuracy
44.2%norm 44.7%
55.5%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
46.1%norm 54.8%
160.62/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
10.12/15 · norm 0.29

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

Edson Barboza

Distance 94.7% (norm 83.1%) · Clinch 2.7% (norm 7.3%) · Ground 2.5% (norm 8.0%)

Makwan Amirkhani

Distance 77.0% (norm 85.9%) · Clinch 1.6% (norm 6.0%) · Ground 21.4% (norm 6.5%)

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

Edson Barboza

Head 65.6% (norm 78.0%) · Body 20.4% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 14.1% (norm 8.0%)

Makwan Amirkhani

Head 89.9% (norm 77.5%) · Body 8.0% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 2.1% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Barboza L/AAccLightweight med Amirkhani L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1476 / 3425 43.1% 38.3% 110 / 298 36.9% 40.5%
In the clinch 80 / 98 81.6% 67.5% 4 / 6 too few to rate 70.5%
On the ground 60 / 92 65.2% 68.8% 57 / 83 68.7% 69.3%
BY TARGET
To the head 707 / 2371 29.8% 35.1% 147 / 348 42.2% 37.1%
To the body 511 / 736 69.4% 69.1% 17 / 31 54.8% 68.0%
To the legs 398 / 508 78.3% 81.8% 7 / 8 too few to rate 80.3%

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 · Featherweight: 127 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 Barboza L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Amirkhani L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1494 / 3662 40.8% 38.8% 205 / 490 41.8% 39.3%
In the clinch 90 / 134 67.2% 68.6% 57 / 67 85.1% 70.3%
On the ground 271 / 374 72.5% 68.0% 122 / 155 78.7% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 1343 / 3460 38.8% 35.2% 234 / 500 46.8% 35.9%
To the body 254 / 398 63.8% 68.2% 101 / 139 72.7% 68.0%
To the legs 258 / 312 82.7% 81.5% 49 / 73 67.1% 81.5%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
1150.0% acc · 0.42/15 · norm 1.34
Takedowns landed
3443.0% acc · 3.96/15 · norm 1.17
7673.1% def · norm 63.7%
Takedowns stopped
535.7% def · norm 61.5%
24:396.3% of cage time · norm 18.95%
Control time
44:3734.6% of cage time · norm 16.5%
67:122:35 per 15 · norm 2:50
Time under control lower is better
29:333:26 per 15 · norm 3:11
20.08/15 · norm 0.48
Submission attempts
91.05/15 · norm 0.45

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