John Castaneda vs.
Muin Gafurov
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.
John Castaneda
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 5 | 4 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 0 | 1 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 14 | 3 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.8 · 5 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 28 documented bouts
In the UFC: 2-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.6 wins over .500
Muin Gafurov
Full career not yet synced for Muin Gafurov — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 2-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.4 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)
John Castaneda
Distance 92.9% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 4.7% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 2.3% (norm 6.5%)
Muin Gafurov
Distance 83.9% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 10.9% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 5.2% (norm 6.5%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
John Castaneda
Head 69.8% (norm 77.4%) · Body 12.5% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 17.7% (norm 8.4%)
Muin Gafurov
Head 74.5% (norm 77.4%) · Body 17.7% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 7.7% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Castaneda L/A | Acc | Bantamweight med | Gafurov L/A | Acc | Bantamweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 540 / 1078 | 50.1% | 39.0% | 173 / 402 | 43.0% | 39.0% |
| In the clinch | 38 / 55 | 69.1% | 68.7% | 35 / 52 | 67.3% | 68.7% |
| On the ground | 21 / 27 | 77.8% | 70.2% | 17 / 25 | 68.0% | 70.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 341 / 810 | 42.1% | 34.9% | 135 / 357 | 37.8% | 34.9% |
| To the body | 94 / 145 | 64.8% | 66.8% | 64 / 85 | 75.3% | 66.8% |
| To the legs | 164 / 205 | 80.0% | 79.4% | 26 / 37 | 70.3% | 79.4% |
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 (Bantamweight: 117 fighters · Bantamweight: 117 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 Castaneda L/A | Opp acc | Bantamweight med | vs Gafurov L/A | Opp acc | Bantamweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 563 / 1240 | 45.4% | 39.3% | 125 / 330 | 37.9% | 39.3% |
| In the clinch | 67 / 100 | 67.0% | 70.4% | 11 / 15 | too few to rate | 70.4% |
| On the ground | 5 / 9 | too few to rate | 72.4% | 8 / 10 | too few to rate | 72.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 396 / 1031 | 38.4% | 34.9% | 73 / 241 | 30.3% | 34.9% |
| To the body | 117 / 164 | 71.3% | 66.0% | 48 / 79 | 60.8% | 66.0% |
| To the legs | 122 / 154 | 79.2% | 79.1% | 23 / 35 | 65.7% | 79.1% |
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 — Castaneda has more cage time on record.