BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Michael Chiesa vs.
Francisco Trinaldo

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

15-7-0 Michael Chiesa · UFC
18-8-0 Francisco Trinaldo · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

15-7-0
UFC record
18-8-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
38.7
AgeΔ 9.3 yrs
48
6'1"
HeightΔ 4"
5'9"
75"
ReachΔ 5"
70"
Southpaw
Stance
Southpaw
4.3
Layoff (months)Δ 41.9 mo
46.2
WWWWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LWWLW
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.

Michael Chiesa hunts takedowns — 3.11 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Michael Chiesa is a submission threat — 1.04 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Welterweight norm.
Francisco Trinaldo rarely shoots — 0.98 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight 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.

Michael Chiesa

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 157
Tier 3 — regional circuit 50

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.4 · 15 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 27 documented bouts

In the UFC: 7-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.5 wins over .500

Francisco Trinaldo

Full career not yet synced for Francisco Trinaldo — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 11-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.2 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4092.02/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
10093.13/min · norm 3.42
3501.73/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
8602.67/min · norm 3.37
40.7%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
45.2%norm 43.5%
58.0%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
60.7%norm 56.3%
10.07/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
50.23/15 · norm 0.25

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

Michael Chiesa

Distance 75.5% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 9.7% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 14.7% (norm 8.1%)

Francisco Trinaldo

Distance 80.2% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 10.7% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 9.1% (norm 8.0%)

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

Michael Chiesa

Head 85.4% (norm 78.2%) · Body 12.2% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 2.4% (norm 8.4%)

Francisco Trinaldo

Head 77.3% (norm 78.2%) · Body 16.8% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 5.9% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Chiesa L/AAccWelterweight med Trinaldo L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 249 / 760 32.8% 38.6% 703 / 1789 39.3% 37.9%
In the clinch 65 / 98 66.3% 67.8% 168 / 238 70.6% 67.3%
On the ground 95 / 148 64.2% 67.2% 138 / 203 68.0% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 299 / 859 34.8% 37.2% 616 / 1723 35.8% 35.0%
To the body 88 / 123 71.5% 70.7% 277 / 375 73.9% 69.1%
To the legs 22 / 24 too few to rate 82.9% 116 / 132 87.9% 81.9%

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 (Welterweight: 182 fighters · Lightweight: 201 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 Chiesa L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Trinaldo L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 262 / 712 36.8% 39.0% 679 / 1932 35.1% 38.9%
In the clinch 48 / 68 70.6% 68.9% 100 / 134 74.6% 68.6%
On the ground 40 / 53 75.5% 68.0% 81 / 125 64.8% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 181 / 605 29.9% 35.6% 442 / 1598 27.7% 35.1%
To the body 88 / 127 69.3% 69.6% 249 / 390 63.8% 68.1%
To the legs 81 / 101 80.2% 82.1% 169 / 203 83.3% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

4247.7% acc · 3.11/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
2142.0% acc · 0.98/15 · norm 1.38
2765.9% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
4460.3% def · norm 64.0%
81:0340.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
64:5920.2% of cage time · norm 19.5%
37:002:44 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
54:562:33 per 15 · norm 2:46
141.04/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
110.51/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.