BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Melquizael Costa vs.
Julian Erosa

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
9-9-0 Julian Erosa · 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
9-9-0
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
29
AgeΔ 8 yrs
37
5'10"
HeightΔ 3"
6'1"
71"
ReachΔ 3"
74"
Southpaw
Stance
Southpaw
2.7
Layoff (months)Δ 1.6 mo
4.3
LWWWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWWW
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.

Melquizael Costa is a submission threat — 0.84 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.46 Featherweight norm.
Julian Erosa absorbs 6.23 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.47 Featherweight norm — hittable.
Julian Erosa outworks the Featherweight division — 6.06 sig. strikes landed per minute, vs a 3.54 norm.
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

Julian Erosa

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 109
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 01
Tier 3 — regional circuit 213

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.92 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 26 finish wins over 44 documented bouts

In the UFC: 5-3 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
8556.06/min · norm 3.54
3433.19/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
8786.23/min · norm 3.47
47.0%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
48.0%norm 45.0%
50.4%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
49.2%norm 54.85%
20.28/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
10.11/15 · 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%)

Julian Erosa

Distance 85.7% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 11.0% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 3.3% (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%)

Julian Erosa

Head 78.2% (norm 77.4%) · Body 16.4% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 5.4% (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 Erosa L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 382 / 864 44.2% 40.9% 664 / 1528 43.5% 40.9%
In the clinch 42 / 65 64.6% 70.8% 139 / 196 70.9% 70.8%
On the ground 38 / 54 70.4% 69.2% 52 / 59 88.1% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 216 / 636 34.0% 37.2% 566 / 1394 40.6% 37.2%
To the body 138 / 215 64.2% 68.2% 208 / 292 71.2% 68.2%
To the legs 108 / 132 81.8% 80.7% 81 / 97 83.5% 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 Erosa L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 237 / 549 43.2% 39.2% 738 / 1504 49.1% 39.2%
In the clinch 45 / 66 68.2% 70.3% 83 / 133 62.4% 70.3%
On the ground 61 / 76 80.3% 69.4% 57 / 93 61.3% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 233 / 560 41.6% 35.9% 643 / 1431 44.9% 35.9%
To the body 73 / 90 81.1% 67.9% 115 / 153 75.2% 67.9%
To the legs 37 / 41 90.2% 81.5% 120 / 146 82.2% 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
1744.7% acc · 1.81/15 · norm 1.19
2750.9% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
2461.5% def · norm 61.5%
18:0216.8% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
21:4115.4% of cage time · norm 16.7%
34:284:48 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
19:272:04 per 15 · norm 3:12
60.84/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
70.74/15 · norm 0.46

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.