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Gegard Mousasi vs. Lyoto Machida

UFC 9-3-0 vs. 16-8-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
9-3-0
UFC record
16-8-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Light Heavyweight
41
AgeΔ 7 yrs
48
6'2"
HeightΔ 1"
6'1"
76"
ReachΔ 2"
74"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
114.4
Layoff (months)Δ 13.1 mo
101.3
WWWWW
Last 5 (newest first)
WWLLL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Lyoto Machida carries real power — 0.73 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.40 Light Heavyweight norm.
Gegard Mousasi is hard to hit — absorbs 1.39 sig. strikes per minute, vs a 3.20 Middleweight norm.
Lyoto Machida is hard to hit — absorbs 1.62 sig. strikes per minute, vs a 3.37 Light Heavyweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Gegard Mousasi

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 166
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 10
Tier 3 — regional circuit 313

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.32 · 17 tier-1/2 wins · 39 finish wins over 59 documented bouts

In the UFC: 7-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.5 wins over .500

Lyoto Machida

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1812
Tier 3 — regional circuit 80

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.15 · 18 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 38 documented bouts

In the UFC: 13-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.0 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4653.87/min · norm 3.23
Sig. strikes landed
7162.51/min · norm 3.48
1671.39/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
4621.62/min · norm 3.37
50.3%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
51.7%norm 48.45%
68.0%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
62.6%norm 52.75%
20.25/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
140.73/15 · norm 0.40

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

Gegard Mousasi

Distance 74.1% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 9.1% (norm 9.0%) · Ground 16.8% (norm 10.0%)

Lyoto Machida

Distance 76.8% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 9.2% (norm 8.8%) · Ground 14.0% (norm 10.6%)

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

Gegard Mousasi

Head 82.1% (norm 78.0%) · Body 7.5% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 10.4% (norm 8.4%)

Lyoto Machida

Head 64.0% (norm 78.5%) · Body 20.3% (norm 11.8%) · Legs 15.7% (norm 9.7%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Mousasi L/AAccMiddleweight med Machida L/AAccLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 303 / 685 44.2% 40.5% 509 / 1063 47.9% 41.5%
In the clinch 53 / 84 63.1% 70.6% 89 / 127 70.1% 70.8%
On the ground 109 / 155 70.3% 69.4% 118 / 194 60.8% 72.9%
BY TARGET
To the head 332 / 759 43.7% 38.8% 360 / 886 40.6% 39.2%
To the body 48 / 69 69.6% 71.6% 196 / 281 69.8% 72.0%
To the legs 85 / 96 88.5% 83.3% 160 / 217 73.7% 82.1%

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 (Middleweight: 178 fighters · Light Heavyweight: 94 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 Mousasi L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Machida L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 129 / 468 27.6% 39.5% 301 / 996 30.2% 40.6%
In the clinch 7 / 12 too few to rate 70.4% 111 / 162 68.5% 68.8%
On the ground 31 / 42 73.8% 69.0% 50 / 77 64.9% 70.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 96 / 403 23.8% 37.9% 204 / 799 25.5% 37.7%
To the body 27 / 58 46.6% 71.3% 102 / 191 53.4% 72.9%
To the legs 44 / 61 72.1% 82.1% 156 / 245 63.7% 83.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
952.9% acc · 1.12/15 · norm 1.35
Takedowns landed
1463.6% acc · 0.73/15 · norm 0.87
2873.7% def · norm 63.3%
Takedowns stopped
6576.5% def · norm 66.7%
28:0123.3% of cage time · norm 19.4%
Control time
44:4115.6% of cage time · norm 17.1%
19:462:28 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control lower is better
26:581:24 per 15 · norm 2:50
30.37/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
80.42/15 · norm 0.28

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