Joseph Benavidez vs.
Ian Loveland
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.
Joseph Benavidez
Full career not yet synced for Joseph Benavidez — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 10-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.2 wins over .500
Ian Loveland
Full career not yet synced for Ian Loveland — 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 -0.3 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)
Joseph Benavidez
Distance 89.3% (norm 85.1%) · Clinch 6.8% (norm 6.0%) · Ground 3.9% (norm 7.3%)
Ian Loveland
Distance 78.9% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 8.2% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 12.8% (norm 6.5%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Joseph Benavidez
Head 71.2% (norm 75.9%) · Body 16.9% (norm 13.3%) · Legs 11.9% (norm 9.3%)
Ian Loveland
Head 90.5% (norm 77.4%) · Body 8.2% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 1.3% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Benavidez L/A | Acc | Flyweight med | Loveland L/A | Acc | Bantamweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 764 / 2271 | 33.6% | 40.0% | 91 / 240 | 37.9% | 39.0% |
| In the clinch | 111 / 174 | 63.8% | 70.4% | 13 / 25 | 52.0% | 68.7% |
| On the ground | 63 / 98 | 64.3% | 69.7% | 18 / 39 | 46.2% | 70.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 505 / 1810 | 27.9% | 37.6% | 99 / 275 | 36.0% | 34.9% |
| To the body | 243 / 431 | 56.4% | 68.5% | 20 / 25 | 80.0% | 66.8% |
| To the legs | 190 / 302 | 62.9% | 80.0% | 3 / 4 | too few to rate | 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 (Flyweight: 73 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 Benavidez L/A | Opp acc | Flyweight med | vs Loveland L/A | Opp acc | Bantamweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 536 / 1429 | 37.5% | 40.1% | 97 / 288 | 33.7% | 39.3% |
| In the clinch | 126 / 182 | 69.2% | 68.8% | 5 / 8 | too few to rate | 70.4% |
| On the ground | 60 / 71 | 84.5% | 71.1% | 4 / 6 | too few to rate | 72.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 439 / 1292 | 34.0% | 35.2% | 39 / 197 | 19.8% | 34.9% |
| To the body | 206 / 289 | 71.3% | 68.2% | 43 / 62 | 69.4% | 66.0% |
| To the legs | 77 / 101 | 76.2% | 80.3% | 24 / 43 | 55.8% | 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 — Benavidez has more cage time on record.