BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Melquizael Costa vs.
Andre Fili

Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.

7-3-0 Melquizael Costa · UFC
13-13-0 (1 NC) Andre Fili · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.

7-3-0
UFC record
13-13-0 (1 NC)
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
29
AgeΔ 7 yrs
36
5'10"
HeightΔ 1"
5'11"
71"
ReachΔ 3"
74"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
2.7
Layoff (months)Δ 1.2 mo
1.5
LWWWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWLW
The read

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.

Andre Fili hunts takedowns — 2.24 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.19 Featherweight norm.
Melquizael Costa is a submission threat — 0.84 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.46 Featherweight norm.
Andre Fili absorbs 4.55 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.47 Featherweight norm — hittable.
Level of competition

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.

Melquizael Costa

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 73
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 11
Tier 3 — regional circuit 184

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.98 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 17 finish wins over 34 documented bouts

In the UFC: 6-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.1 wins over .500

Andre Fili

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1313
Tier 3 — regional circuit 121

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.79 · 13 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 40 documented bouts

In the UFC: 7-8 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.4 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4624.29/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
11213.89/min · norm 3.54
3433.19/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
13134.55/min · norm 3.47
47.0%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
37.8%norm 45.0%
50.4%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
49.5%norm 54.85%
20.28/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
60.31/15 · norm 0.29

Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)

Melquizael Costa

Distance 87.9% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 6.6% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 5.5% (norm 6.5%)

Andre Fili

Distance 91.9% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 3.5% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 4.6% (norm 6.5%)

What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)

Melquizael Costa

Head 64.7% (norm 77.4%) · Body 21.9% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 13.4% (norm 7.8%)

Andre Fili

Head 85.7% (norm 77.4%) · Body 8.6% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 5.7% (norm 7.8%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.

Zone Costa L/AAccFeatherweight med Fili L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 382 / 864 44.2% 40.9% 980 / 2722 36.0% 40.9%
In the clinch 42 / 65 64.6% 70.8% 62 / 105 59.0% 70.8%
On the ground 38 / 54 70.4% 69.2% 79 / 135 58.5% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 216 / 636 34.0% 37.2% 819 / 2538 32.3% 37.2%
To the body 138 / 215 64.2% 68.2% 169 / 255 66.3% 68.2%
To the legs 108 / 132 81.8% 80.7% 133 / 169 78.7% 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 Costa L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Fili L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 237 / 549 43.2% 39.2% 1116 / 2292 48.7% 39.2%
In the clinch 45 / 66 68.2% 70.3% 79 / 124 63.7% 70.3%
On the ground 61 / 76 80.3% 69.4% 118 / 186 63.4% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 233 / 560 41.6% 35.9% 703 / 1825 38.5% 35.9%
To the body 73 / 90 81.1% 67.9% 259 / 390 66.4% 67.9%
To the legs 37 / 41 90.2% 81.5% 351 / 387 90.7% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.

1135.5% acc · 1.53/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
4346.2% acc · 2.24/15 · norm 1.19
2750.9% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
5972.0% def · norm 61.5%
18:0216.8% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
43:2315.0% of cage time · norm 16.7%
34:284:48 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
44:222:18 per 15 · norm 3:12
60.84/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
40.21/15 · norm 0.46

Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Fili has more cage time on record.

Next move

Let the engine settle it.