Josh Emmett vs.
Ilia Topuria
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.
Josh Emmett
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 10 | 7 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 9 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.11 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 26 documented bouts
In the UFC: 10-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.6 wins over .500
Ilia Topuria
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 9 | 1 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 2 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 6 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 2.06 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 18 documented bouts
In the UFC: 7-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +6.2 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)
Josh Emmett
Distance 91.3% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 2.9% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 5.8% (norm 6.5%)
Ilia Topuria
Distance 84.3% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 4.5% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 11.2% (norm 6.5%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Josh Emmett
Head 81.6% (norm 77.4%) · Body 12.3% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 6.1% (norm 7.8%)
Ilia Topuria
Head 78.3% (norm 77.4%) · Body 15.1% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 6.6% (norm 7.8%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Emmett L/A | Acc | Featherweight med | Topuria L/A | Acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 654 / 1978 | 33.1% | 40.9% | 387 / 845 | 45.8% | 40.9% |
| In the clinch | 43 / 63 | 68.3% | 70.8% | 34 / 45 | 75.6% | 70.8% |
| On the ground | 78 / 126 | 61.9% | 69.2% | 81 / 112 | 72.3% | 69.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 496 / 1768 | 28.1% | 37.2% | 343 / 785 | 43.7% | 37.2% |
| To the body | 164 / 267 | 61.4% | 68.2% | 106 / 151 | 70.2% | 68.2% |
| To the legs | 115 / 132 | 87.1% | 80.7% | 53 / 66 | 80.3% | 80.7% |
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 (Featherweight: 126 fighters · Featherweight: 126 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 Emmett L/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med | vs Topuria L/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 824 / 2170 | 38.0% | 39.2% | 383 / 1046 | 36.6% | 39.2% |
| In the clinch | 61 / 92 | 66.3% | 70.3% | 24 / 34 | 70.6% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 70 / 102 | 68.6% | 69.4% | 7 / 11 | too few to rate | 69.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 665 / 1957 | 34.0% | 35.9% | 257 / 841 | 30.6% | 35.9% |
| To the body | 145 / 229 | 63.3% | 67.9% | 85 / 167 | 50.9% | 67.9% |
| To the legs | 145 / 178 | 81.5% | 81.5% | 72 / 83 | 86.7% | 81.5% |
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 — Emmett has more cage time on record.