Michael McDonald vs.
Chris Cariaso
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 McDonald
Full career not yet synced for Michael McDonald — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 3-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.8 wins over .500
Chris Cariaso
Full career not yet synced for Chris Cariaso — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 2-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.6 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 McDonald
Distance 88.3% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 6.9% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 4.7% (norm 6.5%)
Chris Cariaso
Distance 80.0% (norm 85.1%) · Clinch 13.6% (norm 6.0%) · Ground 6.4% (norm 7.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Michael McDonald
Head 89.3% (norm 77.4%) · Body 5.9% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 4.7% (norm 8.4%)
Chris Cariaso
Head 75.3% (norm 75.9%) · Body 17.8% (norm 13.3%) · Legs 6.9% (norm 9.3%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | McDonald L/A | Acc | Bantamweight med | Cariaso L/A | Acc | Flyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 180 / 447 | 40.3% | 39.0% | 404 / 1095 | 36.9% | 40.0% |
| In the clinch | 19 / 35 | 54.3% | 68.7% | 133 / 186 | 71.5% | 70.4% |
| On the ground | 17 / 24 | too few to rate | 70.2% | 54 / 87 | 62.1% | 69.7% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 171 / 452 | 37.8% | 34.9% | 337 / 1030 | 32.7% | 37.6% |
| To the body | 23 / 30 | 76.7% | 66.8% | 174 / 243 | 71.6% | 68.5% |
| To the legs | 22 / 24 | too few to rate | 79.4% | 80 / 95 | 84.2% | 80.0% |
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 (Bantamweight: 117 fighters · Flyweight: 73 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 McDonald L/A | Opp acc | Bantamweight med | vs Cariaso L/A | Opp acc | Flyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 174 / 442 | 39.4% | 39.3% | 256 / 812 | 31.5% | 40.1% |
| In the clinch | 13 / 35 | 37.1% | 70.4% | 90 / 138 | 65.2% | 68.8% |
| On the ground | 39 / 51 | 76.5% | 72.4% | 85 / 137 | 62.0% | 71.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 131 / 407 | 32.2% | 34.9% | 251 / 842 | 29.8% | 35.2% |
| To the body | 60 / 80 | 75.0% | 66.0% | 131 / 184 | 71.2% | 68.2% |
| To the legs | 35 / 41 | 85.4% | 79.1% | 49 / 61 | 80.3% | 80.3% |
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 — Cariaso has more cage time on record.