Mauricio Rua vs. Paul Craig
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Mauricio Rua
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 11 | 12 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 14 | 2 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.79 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 20 finish wins over 40 documented bouts
In the UFC: 10-10 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.0 wins over .500
Paul Craig
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 9 | 10 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 8 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.89 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 17 finish wins over 29 documented bouts
In the UFC: 5-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.5 wins over .500
Striking
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Mauricio Rua
Distance 76.7% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 10.7% (norm 8.8%) · Ground 12.6% (norm 10.6%)
Paul Craig
Distance 78.4% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 8.6% (norm 8.8%) · Ground 12.9% (norm 10.6%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Mauricio Rua
Head 72.8% (norm 78.5%) · Body 11.3% (norm 11.8%) · Legs 16.0% (norm 9.7%)
Paul Craig
Head 68.3% (norm 78.5%) · Body 21.8% (norm 11.8%) · Legs 9.9% (norm 9.7%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Rua L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med | Craig L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 621 / 1322 | 47.0% | 41.5% | 283 / 728 | 38.9% | 41.5% |
| In the clinch | 130 / 184 | 70.7% | 70.8% | 57 / 80 | 71.2% | 70.8% |
| On the ground | 137 / 217 | 63.1% | 72.9% | 81 / 120 | 67.5% | 72.9% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 527 / 1254 | 42.0% | 39.2% | 211 / 634 | 33.3% | 39.2% |
| To the body | 140 / 194 | 72.2% | 72.0% | 133 / 202 | 65.8% | 72.0% |
| To the legs | 221 / 275 | 80.4% | 82.1% | 77 / 92 | 83.7% | 82.1% |
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 · Light Heavyweight: 94 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 Rua L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med | vs Craig L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 605 / 1462 | 41.4% | 40.6% | 281 / 584 | 48.1% | 40.6% |
| In the clinch | 148 / 225 | 65.8% | 68.8% | 49 / 60 | 81.7% | 68.8% |
| On the ground | 164 / 233 | 70.4% | 70.4% | 181 / 259 | 69.9% | 70.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 616 / 1529 | 40.3% | 37.7% | 353 / 713 | 49.5% | 37.7% |
| To the body | 206 / 263 | 78.3% | 72.9% | 78 / 97 | 80.4% | 72.9% |
| To the legs | 95 / 128 | 74.2% | 83.1% | 80 / 93 | 86.0% | 83.1% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Rua has more cage time on record.