BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Joel Alvarez vs.
Alexander Yakovlev

Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.

8-3-0 Joel Alvarez · UFC
3-6-0 Alexander Yakovlev · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.

8-3-0
UFC record
3-6-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
33.4
AgeΔ 8.7 yrs
42.1
6'3"
HeightΔ 0"
6'3"
77"
ReachΔ 3"
74"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
2.9
Layoff (months)Δ 66.5 mo
69.4
LWWWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWLL
The read

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.

Joel Alvarez is a submission threat — 1.06 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.49 Lightweight norm.
Joel Alvarez rarely shoots — 0.18 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Alexander Yakovlev hunts takedowns — 1.66 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Level of competition

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.

Joel Alvarez

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 83
Tier 3 — regional circuit 151

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.46 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 22 finish wins over 27 documented bouts

In the UFC: 6-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.2 wins over .500

Alexander Yakovlev

Full career not yet synced for Alexander Yakovlev — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 2-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.2 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

3844.53/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
1731.74/min · norm 3.17
2573.03/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
2392.41/min · norm 3.06
54.5%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
47.4%norm 44.9%
53.9%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
58.5%norm 55.25%
10.18/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
20.30/15 · norm 0.38

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

Joel Alvarez

Distance 82.0% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 7.7% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 10.4% (norm 8.0%)

Alexander Yakovlev

Distance 82.2% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 7.9% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 9.9% (norm 8.1%)

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

Joel Alvarez

Head 79.1% (norm 78.2%) · Body 13.9% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 7.0% (norm 7.9%)

Alexander Yakovlev

Head 68.2% (norm 78.2%) · Body 17.3% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 14.5% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Alvarez L/AAccLightweight med Yakovlev L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 286 / 577 49.6% 37.9% 124 / 300 41.3% 38.6%
In the clinch 44 / 54 81.5% 67.3% 22 / 29 75.9% 67.8%
On the ground 54 / 73 74.0% 69.1% 27 / 36 75.0% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 265 / 557 47.6% 35.0% 85 / 249 34.1% 37.2%
To the body 76 / 98 77.6% 69.1% 46 / 63 73.0% 70.7%
To the legs 43 / 49 87.8% 81.9% 42 / 53 79.2% 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 Alvarez L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Yakovlev L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 213 / 496 42.9% 38.9% 140 / 443 31.6% 39.0%
In the clinch 5 / 8 too few to rate 68.6% 30 / 43 69.8% 68.9%
On the ground 39 / 53 73.6% 68.0% 69 / 90 76.7% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 129 / 366 35.2% 35.1% 151 / 463 32.6% 35.6%
To the body 62 / 107 57.9% 68.1% 43 / 63 68.3% 69.6%
To the legs 66 / 84 78.6% 81.5% 45 / 50 90.0% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.

133.3% acc · 0.18/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
1135.5% acc · 1.66/15 · norm 1.27
1346.4% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
2672.2% def · norm 63.9%
9:1010.8% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
14:5715.1% of cage time · norm 18.5%
21:073:44 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
40:096:04 per 15 · norm 3:15
61.06/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
10.15/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.