Melquizael Costa vs.
Steve Garcia
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.
Melquizael Costa
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 7 | 3 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 1 | 1 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 18 | 4 |
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
Steve Garcia
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 14 | 5 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 1 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 4 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.58 · 15 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 25 documented bouts
In the UFC: 3-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.8 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)
Melquizael Costa
Distance 87.9% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 6.6% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 5.5% (norm 6.5%)
Steve Garcia
Distance 78.5% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 2.9% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 18.6% (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%)
Steve Garcia
Head 85.3% (norm 77.4%) · Body 9.4% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 5.3% (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/A | Acc | Featherweight med | Garcia L/A | Acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 382 / 864 | 44.2% | 40.9% | 235 / 565 | 41.6% | 40.9% |
| In the clinch | 42 / 65 | 64.6% | 70.8% | 12 / 21 | too few to rate | 70.8% |
| On the ground | 38 / 54 | 70.4% | 69.2% | 92 / 134 | 68.7% | 69.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 216 / 636 | 34.0% | 37.2% | 254 / 614 | 41.4% | 37.2% |
| To the body | 138 / 215 | 64.2% | 68.2% | 50 / 68 | 73.5% | 68.2% |
| To the legs | 108 / 132 | 81.8% | 80.7% | 35 / 38 | 92.1% | 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/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med | vs Garcia L/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 237 / 549 | 43.2% | 39.2% | 92 / 304 | 30.3% | 39.2% |
| In the clinch | 45 / 66 | 68.2% | 70.3% | 8 / 12 | too few to rate | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 61 / 76 | 80.3% | 69.4% | 37 / 56 | 66.1% | 69.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 233 / 560 | 41.6% | 35.9% | 110 / 330 | 33.3% | 35.9% |
| To the body | 73 / 90 | 81.1% | 67.9% | 14 / 29 | 48.3% | 67.9% |
| To the legs | 37 / 41 | 90.2% | 81.5% | 13 / 13 | too few to rate | 81.5% |
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 — Garcia has more cage time on record.