Ilia Topuria vs.
Youssef Zalal
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.
Ilia Topuria
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 9 | 1 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 2 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 6 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 2.06 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 18 documented bouts
In the UFC: 7-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +6.2 wins over .500
Youssef Zalal
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 8 | 4 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 4 | 2 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 6 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.33 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 14 finish wins over 25 documented bouts
In the UFC: 4-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.7 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)
Ilia Topuria
Distance 84.3% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 4.5% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 11.2% (norm 6.5%)
Youssef Zalal
Distance 88.8% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 4.3% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 7.0% (norm 6.5%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Ilia Topuria
Head 78.3% (norm 77.4%) · Body 15.1% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 6.6% (norm 7.8%)
Youssef Zalal
Head 75.9% (norm 77.4%) · Body 12.0% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 12.1% (norm 7.8%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Topuria L/A | Acc | Featherweight med | Zalal L/A | Acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 387 / 845 | 45.8% | 40.9% | 389 / 792 | 49.1% | 40.9% |
| In the clinch | 34 / 45 | 75.6% | 70.8% | 28 / 38 | 73.7% | 70.8% |
| On the ground | 81 / 112 | 72.3% | 69.2% | 37 / 62 | 59.7% | 69.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 343 / 785 | 43.7% | 37.2% | 288 / 677 | 42.5% | 37.2% |
| To the body | 106 / 151 | 70.2% | 68.2% | 76 / 107 | 71.0% | 68.2% |
| To the legs | 53 / 66 | 80.3% | 80.7% | 90 / 108 | 83.3% | 80.7% |
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 (Featherweight: 126 fighters · Featherweight: 126 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 Topuria L/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med | vs Zalal L/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 383 / 1046 | 36.6% | 39.2% | 235 / 750 | 31.3% | 39.2% |
| In the clinch | 24 / 34 | 70.6% | 70.3% | 47 / 66 | 71.2% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 7 / 11 | too few to rate | 69.4% | 10 / 15 | too few to rate | 69.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 257 / 841 | 30.6% | 35.9% | 180 / 634 | 28.4% | 35.9% |
| To the body | 85 / 167 | 50.9% | 67.9% | 64 / 108 | 59.3% | 67.9% |
| To the legs | 72 / 83 | 86.7% | 81.5% | 48 / 89 | 53.9% | 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 — Zalal has more cage time on record.