Rafael Natal vs. Joao Zeferino
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Rafael Natal
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 9 | 7 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 12 | 2 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.83 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 31 documented bouts
In the UFC: 3-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.7 wins over .500
Joao Zeferino
Full career not yet synced for Joao Zeferino — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.5 wins over .500
Striking
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Rafael Natal
Distance 76.6% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 8.1% (norm 9.0%) · Ground 15.3% (norm 10.0%)
Joao Zeferino
Distance 91.2% (norm 80.7%) · Clinch 5.9% (norm 9.6%) · Ground 2.9% (norm 8.1%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Rafael Natal
Head 71.2% (norm 78.0%) · Body 12.5% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 16.3% (norm 8.4%)
Joao Zeferino
Head 79.4% (norm 78.3%) · Body 11.8% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 8.8% (norm 8.0%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Natal L/A | Acc | Middleweight med | Zeferino L/A | Acc | Welterweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 432 / 1049 | 41.2% | 40.5% | 20 / 62 | 32.3% | 38.5% |
| In the clinch | 79 / 111 | 71.2% | 70.6% | 3 / 4 | too few to rate | 67.8% |
| On the ground | 145 / 210 | 69.0% | 69.4% | 2 / 2 | too few to rate | 67.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 379 / 976 | 38.8% | 38.8% | 18 / 54 | 33.3% | 36.4% |
| To the body | 93 / 171 | 54.4% | 71.6% | 5 / 8 | too few to rate | 70.7% |
| To the legs | 184 / 223 | 82.5% | 83.3% | 2 / 6 | too few to rate | 83.0% |
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 (Middleweight: 178 fighters · Welterweight: 180 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 Natal L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med | vs Zeferino L/A | Opp acc | Welterweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 369 / 1016 | 36.3% | 39.5% | 32 / 89 | 36.0% | 39.1% |
| In the clinch | 58 / 89 | 65.2% | 70.4% | 20 / 24 | too few to rate | 68.9% |
| On the ground | 97 / 131 | 74.0% | 69.0% | 26 / 38 | 68.4% | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 315 / 950 | 33.2% | 37.9% | 35 / 86 | 40.7% | 35.6% |
| To the body | 73 / 117 | 62.4% | 71.3% | 29 / 39 | 74.4% | 69.6% |
| To the legs | 136 / 169 | 80.5% | 82.1% | 14 / 26 | 53.8% | 82.2% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Natal has more cage time on record.