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Nikolay Veretennikov vs. Punahele Soriano

UFC 2-4-0 vs. 7-5-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
2-4-0
UFC record
7-5-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
36
AgeΔ 3 yrs
33
6'1"
HeightΔ 2"
5'11"
74"
ReachΔ 2"
72"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
5.2
Layoff (months)Δ 3.7 mo
1.5
LWLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LWWWW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Punahele Soriano carries real power — 0.74 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.
Nikolay Veretennikov rarely shoots — 0.50 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.31 Welterweight norm.
Punahele Soriano hunts takedowns — 2.10 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.35 Middleweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Nikolay Veretennikov

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

In the UFC: 0-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.2 wins over .500

Punahele Soriano

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 94
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 10
Tier 3 — regional circuit 30

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.53 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 17 documented bouts

In the UFC: 3-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.5 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

1522.56/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
5054.15/min · norm 3.23
2023.40/min · norm 3.08
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
4493.69/min · norm 3.20
53.7%norm 44.75%
Striking accuracy
52.7%norm 47.4%
44.0%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
46.2%norm 53.8%
00.00/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
60.74/15 · norm 0.32

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

Nikolay Veretennikov

Distance 81.6% (norm 80.7%) · Clinch 13.4% (norm 9.6%) · Ground 4.9% (norm 8.1%)

Punahele Soriano

Distance 64.3% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 6.2% (norm 9.0%) · Ground 29.5% (norm 10.0%)

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

Nikolay Veretennikov

Head 67.8% (norm 78.3%) · Body 27.2% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 4.9% (norm 8.0%)

Punahele Soriano

Head 85.1% (norm 78.0%) · Body 13.3% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 1.6% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Veretennikov L/AAccWelterweight med Soriano L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 110 / 231 47.6% 38.5% 231 / 617 37.4% 40.5%
In the clinch 34 / 38 89.5% 67.8% 46 / 59 78.0% 70.6%
On the ground 8 / 14 too few to rate 67.0% 228 / 283 80.6% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 77 / 192 40.1% 36.4% 400 / 816 49.0% 38.8%
To the body 61 / 77 79.2% 70.7% 94 / 128 73.4% 71.6%
To the legs 14 / 14 too few to rate 83.0% 11 / 15 too few to rate 83.3%

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: 180 fighters · Middleweight: 178 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 Veretennikov L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Soriano L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 113 / 246 45.9% 39.1% 376 / 743 50.6% 39.5%
In the clinch 8 / 12 too few to rate 68.9% 57 / 75 76.0% 70.4%
On the ground 81 / 103 78.6% 68.0% 16 / 16 too few to rate 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 150 / 276 54.3% 35.6% 236 / 584 40.4% 37.9%
To the body 22 / 38 57.9% 69.6% 147 / 180 81.7% 71.3%
To the legs 30 / 47 63.8% 82.2% 66 / 70 94.3% 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
222.2% acc · 0.50/15 · norm 1.31
Takedowns landed
1744.7% acc · 2.10/15 · norm 1.35
1866.7% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
2150.0% def · norm 63.3%
3:486.4% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
36:0929.7% of cage time · norm 19.4%
28:557:17 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control lower is better
19:132:22 per 15 · norm 3:00
20.50/15 · norm 0.44
Submission attempts
20.25/15 · norm 0.45

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