Melsik Baghdasaryan vs.
Josh Culibao
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.
Melsik Baghdasaryan
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 4 | 3 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 4 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.75 · 4 tier-1/2 wins · 5 finish wins over 12 documented bouts
In the UFC: 0-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.3 wins over .500
Josh Culibao
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 3 | 4 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 8 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.9 · 3 tier-1/2 wins · 6 finish wins over 16 documented bouts
In the UFC: 1-2 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)
Melsik Baghdasaryan
Distance 88.9% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 9.3% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 1.8% (norm 6.5%)
Josh Culibao
Distance 92.6% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 3.8% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 3.6% (norm 6.5%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Melsik Baghdasaryan
Head 58.9% (norm 77.4%) · Body 26.5% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 14.7% (norm 7.8%)
Josh Culibao
Head 76.1% (norm 77.4%) · Body 13.2% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 10.6% (norm 7.8%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Baghdasaryan L/A | Acc | Featherweight med | Culibao L/A | Acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 184 / 346 | 53.2% | 40.9% | 318 / 741 | 42.9% | 40.9% |
| In the clinch | 30 / 36 | 83.3% | 70.8% | 20 / 30 | 66.7% | 70.8% |
| On the ground | 5 / 7 | too few to rate | 69.2% | 20 / 29 | 69.0% | 69.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 97 / 229 | 42.4% | 37.2% | 218 / 609 | 35.8% | 37.2% |
| To the body | 78 / 103 | 75.7% | 68.2% | 71 / 106 | 67.0% | 68.2% |
| To the legs | 44 / 57 | 77.2% | 80.7% | 69 / 85 | 81.2% | 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 Baghdasaryan L/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med | vs Culibao L/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 125 / 312 | 40.1% | 39.2% | 216 / 642 | 33.6% | 39.2% |
| In the clinch | 14 / 21 | too few to rate | 70.3% | 35 / 55 | 63.6% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 7 / 9 | too few to rate | 69.4% | 68 / 99 | 68.7% | 69.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 72 / 223 | 32.3% | 35.9% | 184 / 594 | 31.0% | 35.9% |
| To the body | 48 / 83 | 57.8% | 67.9% | 76 / 119 | 63.9% | 67.9% |
| To the legs | 26 / 36 | 72.2% | 81.5% | 59 / 83 | 71.1% | 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 — Culibao has more cage time on record.