Irene Aldana vs.
Vanessa Melo
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.
Irene Aldana
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 8 | 6 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 6 | 2 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.92 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 10 finish wins over 22 documented bouts
In the UFC: 6-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.5 wins over .500
Vanessa Melo
Full career not yet synced for Vanessa Melo — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record -0.2 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)
Irene Aldana
Distance 93.9% (norm 80.3%) · Clinch 2.8% (norm 9.7%) · Ground 3.3% (norm 7.5%)
Vanessa Melo
Distance 98.5% (norm 80.3%) · Clinch 1.2% (norm 9.7%) · Ground 0.3% (norm 7.5%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Irene Aldana
Head 81.5% (norm 75.2%) · Body 9.6% (norm 14.3%) · Legs 8.9% (norm 8.8%)
Vanessa Melo
Head 85.0% (norm 75.2%) · Body 8.7% (norm 14.3%) · Legs 6.3% (norm 8.8%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Aldana L/A | Acc | Women's Bantamweight med | Melo L/A | Acc | Women's Bantamweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 948 / 2504 | 37.9% | 38.3% | 199 / 669 | 29.7% | 38.3% |
| In the clinch | 55 / 74 | 74.3% | 73.3% | 8 / 8 | too few to rate | 73.3% |
| On the ground | 62 / 89 | 69.7% | 70.8% | 2 / 2 | too few to rate | 70.8% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 743 / 2174 | 34.2% | 37.7% | 145 / 577 | 25.1% | 37.7% |
| To the body | 145 / 255 | 56.9% | 70.0% | 30 / 59 | 50.8% | 70.0% |
| To the legs | 177 / 238 | 74.4% | 80.9% | 34 / 43 | 79.1% | 80.9% |
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 (Women's Bantamweight: 40 fighters · Women's Bantamweight: 40 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 Aldana L/A | Opp acc | Women's Bantamweight med | vs Melo L/A | Opp acc | Women's Bantamweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 1258 / 2942 | 42.8% | 41.3% | 301 / 813 | 37.0% | 41.3% |
| In the clinch | 44 / 74 | 59.5% | 74.7% | 14 / 14 | too few to rate | 74.7% |
| On the ground | 61 / 103 | 59.2% | 74.2% | 53 / 74 | 71.6% | 74.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 828 / 2395 | 34.6% | 38.1% | 226 / 722 | 31.3% | 38.1% |
| To the body | 242 / 388 | 62.4% | 73.2% | 55 / 79 | 69.6% | 73.2% |
| To the legs | 293 / 336 | 87.2% | 80.9% | 87 / 100 | 87.0% | 80.9% |
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 — Aldana has more cage time on record.