Lyoto Machida vs. Derek Brunson
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Lyoto Machida
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 18 | 12 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 8 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.15 · 18 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 38 documented bouts
In the UFC: 13-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.0 wins over .500
Derek Brunson
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 15 | 7 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 9 | 2 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.21 · 15 tier-1/2 wins · 16 finish wins over 33 documented bouts
In the UFC: 11-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.6 wins over .500
Striking
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 8.8%) · Ground 14.0% (norm 10.6%)
Derek Brunson
Distance 72.2% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 10.4% (norm 9.0%) · Ground 17.4% (norm 10.0%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Lyoto Machida
Head 64.0% (norm 78.5%) · Body 20.3% (norm 11.8%) · 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% | 41.5% | 405 / 1004 | 40.3% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 89 / 127 | 70.1% | 70.8% | 96 / 145 | 66.2% | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 118 / 194 | 60.8% | 72.9% | 147 / 242 | 60.7% | 69.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 360 / 886 | 40.6% | 39.2% | 457 / 1112 | 41.1% | 38.8% |
| To the body | 196 / 281 | 69.8% | 72.0% | 99 / 149 | 66.4% | 71.6% |
| To the legs | 160 / 217 | 73.7% | 82.1% | 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: 94 fighters · Middleweight: 178 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% | 40.6% | 423 / 973 | 43.5% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 111 / 162 | 68.5% | 68.8% | 91 / 123 | 74.0% | 70.4% |
| On the ground | 50 / 77 | 64.9% | 70.4% | 59 / 71 | 83.1% | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 204 / 799 | 25.5% | 37.7% | 341 / 848 | 40.2% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 102 / 191 | 53.4% | 72.9% | 151 / 198 | 76.3% | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 156 / 245 | 63.7% | 83.1% | 81 / 121 | 66.9% | 82.1% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Machida has more cage time on record.