Israel Adesanya vs.
Paulo Costa
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.
Israel Adesanya
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 13 | 6 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 11 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.39 · 13 tier-1/2 wins · 16 finish wins over 30 documented bouts
In the UFC: 12-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.8 wins over .500
Paulo Costa
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 8 | 4 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 8 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.48 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 20 documented bouts
In the UFC: 5-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.3 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)
Israel Adesanya
Distance 95.1% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 3.1% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 1.9% (norm 10.3%)
Paulo Costa
Distance 90.7% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 3.9% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 5.3% (norm 10.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Israel Adesanya
Head 67.9% (norm 78.0%) · Body 14.5% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 17.6% (norm 8.4%)
Paulo Costa
Head 61.3% (norm 78.0%) · Body 29.2% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 9.5% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Adesanya L/A | Acc | Middleweight med | Costa L/A | Acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 1212 / 2580 | 47.0% | 40.5% | 826 / 1430 | 57.8% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 64 / 83 | 77.1% | 70.3% | 49 / 62 | 79.0% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 37 / 51 | 72.5% | 69.1% | 59 / 84 | 70.2% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 645 / 1843 | 35.0% | 38.9% | 422 / 966 | 43.7% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 274 / 394 | 69.5% | 71.7% | 379 / 460 | 82.4% | 71.7% |
| To the legs | 394 / 477 | 82.6% | 83.3% | 133 / 150 | 88.7% | 83.3% |
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 (Middleweight: 174 fighters · Middleweight: 174 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 Adesanya L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med | vs Costa L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 914 / 2191 | 41.7% | 39.5% | 836 / 1695 | 49.3% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 88 / 121 | 72.7% | 70.9% | 58 / 80 | 72.5% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 47 / 60 | 78.3% | 69.0% | 10 / 12 | too few to rate | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 609 / 1767 | 34.5% | 37.9% | 588 / 1359 | 43.3% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 224 / 309 | 72.5% | 71.3% | 195 / 293 | 66.6% | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 216 / 296 | 73.0% | 82.1% | 121 / 135 | 89.6% | 82.1% |
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 — Adesanya has more cage time on record.