Paulo Costa vs.
Marvin Vettori
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.
Paulo Costa
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 8 | 4 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 8 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.48 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 20 documented bouts
In the UFC: 5-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.3 wins over .500
Marvin Vettori
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 9 | 8 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 10 | 2 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.89 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 11 finish wins over 30 documented bouts
In the UFC: 8-8 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.8 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)
Paulo Costa
Distance 90.7% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 3.9% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 5.3% (norm 10.3%)
Marvin Vettori
Distance 91.5% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 4.0% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 4.4% (norm 10.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Paulo Costa
Head 61.3% (norm 78.0%) · Body 29.2% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 9.5% (norm 8.4%)
Marvin Vettori
Head 88.2% (norm 78.0%) · Body 5.8% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 6.0% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Costa L/A | Acc | Middleweight med | Vettori L/A | Acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 826 / 1430 | 57.8% | 40.5% | 1277 / 2921 | 43.7% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 49 / 62 | 79.0% | 70.3% | 85 / 129 | 65.9% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 59 / 84 | 70.2% | 69.1% | 102 / 141 | 72.3% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 422 / 966 | 43.7% | 38.9% | 1144 / 2814 | 40.7% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 379 / 460 | 82.4% | 71.7% | 146 / 184 | 79.3% | 71.7% |
| To the legs | 133 / 150 | 88.7% | 83.3% | 174 / 193 | 90.2% | 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 (Middleweight: 174 fighters · Middleweight: 174 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 Costa L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med | vs Vettori L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 836 / 1695 | 49.3% | 39.5% | 1279 / 3016 | 42.4% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 58 / 80 | 72.5% | 70.9% | 85 / 123 | 69.1% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 10 / 12 | too few to rate | 69.0% | 42 / 62 | 67.7% | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 588 / 1359 | 43.3% | 37.9% | 881 / 2516 | 35.0% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 195 / 293 | 66.6% | 71.3% | 252 / 350 | 72.0% | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 121 / 135 | 89.6% | 82.1% | 273 / 335 | 81.5% | 82.1% |
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 — Vettori has more cage time on record.