Rani Yahya vs.
Joe Soto
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.
Rani Yahya
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 13 | 6 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 13 | 6 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.9 · 13 tier-1/2 wins · 19 finish wins over 40 documented bouts
In the UFC: 3-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.4 wins over .500
Joe Soto
Full career not yet synced for Joe Soto — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 2-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.1 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)
Rani Yahya
Distance 87.3% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 3.4% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 9.3% (norm 6.5%)
Joe Soto
Distance 94.0% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 1.6% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 4.4% (norm 6.5%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Rani Yahya
Head 75.7% (norm 77.4%) · Body 10.6% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 13.7% (norm 8.4%)
Joe Soto
Head 88.6% (norm 77.4%) · Body 4.0% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 7.4% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Yahya L/A | Acc | Bantamweight med | Soto L/A | Acc | Bantamweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 336 / 980 | 34.3% | 39.0% | 211 / 536 | 39.4% | 39.0% |
| In the clinch | 23 / 38 | 60.5% | 68.7% | 3 / 9 | too few to rate | 68.7% |
| On the ground | 81 / 104 | 77.9% | 70.2% | 24 / 25 | 96.0% | 70.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 239 / 849 | 28.2% | 34.9% | 195 / 505 | 38.6% | 34.9% |
| To the body | 82 / 119 | 68.9% | 66.8% | 17 / 23 | too few to rate | 66.8% |
| To the legs | 119 / 154 | 77.3% | 79.4% | 26 / 42 | 61.9% | 79.4% |
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 · Bantamweight: 117 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 Yahya L/A | Opp acc | Bantamweight med | vs Soto L/A | Opp acc | Bantamweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 311 / 757 | 41.1% | 39.3% | 338 / 1082 | 31.2% | 39.3% |
| In the clinch | 17 / 26 | 65.4% | 70.4% | 20 / 38 | 52.6% | 70.4% |
| On the ground | 158 / 196 | 80.6% | 72.4% | 22 / 34 | 64.7% | 72.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 340 / 790 | 43.0% | 34.9% | 294 / 1037 | 28.4% | 34.9% |
| To the body | 95 / 121 | 78.5% | 66.0% | 56 / 80 | 70.0% | 66.0% |
| To the legs | 51 / 68 | 75.0% | 79.1% | 30 / 37 | 81.1% | 79.1% |
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 — Yahya has more cage time on record.