Joe Ellenberger vs.
Bryan Barberena
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.
Joe Ellenberger
Full career not yet synced for Joe Ellenberger — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 0-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.0 wins over .500
Bryan Barberena
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 9 | 10 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 9 | 2 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.74 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 30 documented bouts
In the UFC: 6-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.3 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)
Joe Ellenberger
Distance 54.6% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 26.8% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 18.6% (norm 8.0%)
Bryan Barberena
Distance 83.3% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 11.8% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 4.9% (norm 8.1%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Joe Ellenberger
Head 81.4% (norm 78.2%) · Body 14.4% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 4.1% (norm 7.9%)
Bryan Barberena
Head 80.6% (norm 78.2%) · Body 8.7% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 10.7% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Ellenberger L/A | Acc | Lightweight med | Barberena L/A | Acc | Welterweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 18 / 53 | 34.0% | 37.9% | 897 / 2065 | 43.4% | 38.6% |
| In the clinch | 14 / 26 | 53.8% | 67.3% | 202 / 293 | 68.9% | 67.8% |
| On the ground | 14 / 18 | too few to rate | 69.1% | 92 / 121 | 76.0% | 67.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 30 / 79 | 38.0% | 35.0% | 833 / 1997 | 41.7% | 37.2% |
| To the body | 12 / 14 | too few to rate | 69.1% | 158 / 216 | 73.1% | 70.7% |
| To the legs | 4 / 4 | too few to rate | 81.9% | 200 / 266 | 75.2% | 82.9% |
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 (Lightweight: 201 fighters · Welterweight: 182 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 Ellenberger L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med | vs Barberena L/A | Opp acc | Welterweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 43 / 98 | 43.9% | 38.9% | 804 / 1546 | 52.0% | 39.0% |
| In the clinch | 11 / 24 | too few to rate | 68.6% | 158 / 212 | 74.5% | 68.9% |
| On the ground | 44 / 67 | 65.7% | 68.0% | 60 / 73 | 82.2% | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 81 / 169 | 47.9% | 35.1% | 656 / 1392 | 47.1% | 35.6% |
| To the body | 11 / 11 | too few to rate | 68.1% | 269 / 333 | 80.8% | 69.6% |
| To the legs | 6 / 9 | too few to rate | 81.5% | 97 / 106 | 91.5% | 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 — Barberena has more cage time on record.