Paulo Thiago vs.
Jacob Volkmann
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 Thiago
Full career not yet synced for Paulo Thiago — 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 +2.8 wins over .500
Jacob Volkmann
Full career not yet synced for Jacob Volkmann — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 3-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.8 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 Thiago
Distance 76.3% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 14.6% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 9.1% (norm 8.1%)
Jacob Volkmann
Distance 61.4% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 5.4% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 33.2% (norm 8.0%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Paulo Thiago
Head 81.7% (norm 78.2%) · Body 13.1% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 5.2% (norm 8.4%)
Jacob Volkmann
Head 81.2% (norm 78.2%) · Body 8.0% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 10.8% (norm 7.9%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Thiago L/A | Acc | Welterweight med | Volkmann L/A | Acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 151 / 495 | 30.5% | 38.6% | 44 / 239 | 18.4% | 37.9% |
| In the clinch | 73 / 95 | 76.8% | 67.8% | 11 / 21 | too few to rate | 67.3% |
| On the ground | 30 / 59 | 50.8% | 67.2% | 79 / 129 | 61.2% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 156 / 530 | 29.4% | 37.2% | 98 / 316 | 31.0% | 35.0% |
| To the body | 65 / 85 | 76.5% | 70.7% | 20 / 31 | 64.5% | 69.1% |
| To the legs | 33 / 34 | 97.1% | 82.9% | 16 / 42 | 38.1% | 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 Thiago L/A | Opp acc | Welterweight med | vs Volkmann L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 168 / 611 | 27.5% | 39.0% | 76 / 238 | 31.9% | 38.9% |
| In the clinch | 29 / 52 | 55.8% | 68.9% | 38 / 56 | 67.9% | 68.6% |
| On the ground | 98 / 146 | 67.1% | 68.0% | 87 / 132 | 65.9% | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 199 / 642 | 31.0% | 35.6% | 123 / 335 | 36.7% | 35.1% |
| To the body | 48 / 86 | 55.8% | 69.6% | 45 / 54 | 83.3% | 68.1% |
| To the legs | 48 / 81 | 59.3% | 82.1% | 33 / 37 | 89.2% | 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 — Thiago has more cage time on record.