Lyoto Machida vs.
Derek Brunson
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.
Lyoto Machida
Full career not yet synced for Lyoto Machida — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 13-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.0 wins over .500
Derek Brunson
Full career not yet synced for Derek Brunson — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 11-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.6 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)
Lyoto Machida
Distance 76.8% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 9.2% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 14.0% (norm 10.4%)
Derek Brunson
Distance 72.2% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 10.4% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 17.4% (norm 10.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Lyoto Machida
Head 64.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 20.3% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 15.7% (norm 9.7%)
Derek Brunson
Head 79.9% (norm 78.0%) · Body 10.7% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 9.3% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Machida L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med | Brunson L/A | Acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 509 / 1063 | 47.9% | 41.4% | 405 / 1004 | 40.3% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 89 / 127 | 70.1% | 70.9% | 96 / 145 | 66.2% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 118 / 194 | 60.8% | 72.3% | 147 / 242 | 60.7% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 360 / 886 | 40.6% | 38.9% | 457 / 1112 | 41.1% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 196 / 281 | 69.8% | 71.9% | 99 / 149 | 66.4% | 71.7% |
| To the legs | 160 / 217 | 73.7% | 81.8% | 92 / 130 | 70.8% | 83.3% |
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 (Light Heavyweight: 93 fighters · Middleweight: 174 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 Machida L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med | vs Brunson L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 301 / 996 | 30.2% | 40.4% | 423 / 973 | 43.5% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 111 / 162 | 68.5% | 68.7% | 91 / 123 | 74.0% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 50 / 77 | 64.9% | 70.4% | 59 / 71 | 83.1% | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 204 / 799 | 25.5% | 37.5% | 341 / 848 | 40.2% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 102 / 191 | 53.4% | 72.3% | 151 / 198 | 76.3% | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 156 / 245 | 63.7% | 83.0% | 81 / 121 | 66.9% | 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 — Machida has more cage time on record.