Michael Chiesa vs.
Rafael Dos Anjos
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.
Michael Chiesa
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 15 | 7 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 5 | 0 |
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
Rafael Dos Anjos
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 21 | 15 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 10 | 2 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.02 · 21 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 48 documented bouts
In the UFC: 16-14 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.2 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)
Michael Chiesa
Distance 75.5% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 9.7% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 14.7% (norm 8.1%)
Rafael Dos Anjos
Distance 79.0% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 10.5% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 10.5% (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%)
Rafael Dos Anjos
Head 74.7% (norm 78.2%) · Body 15.2% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 10.1% (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/A | Acc | Welterweight med | Anjos L/A | Acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 249 / 760 | 32.8% | 38.6% | 1224 / 3059 | 40.0% | 37.9% |
| In the clinch | 65 / 98 | 66.3% | 67.8% | 321 / 407 | 78.9% | 67.3% |
| On the ground | 95 / 148 | 64.2% | 67.2% | 277 / 405 | 68.4% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 299 / 859 | 34.8% | 37.2% | 1063 / 2890 | 36.8% | 35.0% |
| To the body | 88 / 123 | 71.5% | 70.7% | 434 / 589 | 73.7% | 69.1% |
| To the legs | 22 / 24 | too few to rate | 82.9% | 325 / 392 | 82.9% | 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/A | Opp acc | Welterweight med | vs Anjos L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 262 / 712 | 36.8% | 39.0% | 1334 / 3750 | 35.6% | 38.9% |
| In the clinch | 48 / 68 | 70.6% | 68.9% | 235 / 324 | 72.5% | 68.6% |
| On the ground | 40 / 53 | 75.5% | 68.0% | 123 / 181 | 68.0% | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 181 / 605 | 29.9% | 35.6% | 1102 / 3462 | 31.8% | 35.1% |
| To the body | 88 / 127 | 69.3% | 69.6% | 352 / 530 | 66.4% | 68.1% |
| To the legs | 81 / 101 | 80.2% | 82.1% | 238 / 263 | 90.5% | 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 — Anjos has more cage time on record.