BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Rani Yahya vs.
Ricky Simon

Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.

13-6-1 (1 NC) Rani Yahya · UFC
10-6-1 Ricky Simon · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.

13-6-1 (1 NC)
UFC record
10-6-1
Bantamweight
Division (benchmark)
Bantamweight
41.9
AgeΔ 8 yrs
33.9
5'6"
HeightΔ 0"
5'6"
67"
ReachΔ 2"
69"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
27.3
Layoff (months)Δ 23 mo
4.3
LLWWD
Last 5 (newest first)
DLWWL
The read

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.

Rani Yahya is a submission threat — 1.49 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Bantamweight norm.
Ricky Simon hunts takedowns — 3.83 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.12 Bantamweight norm.
Rani Yahya hunts takedowns — 2.66 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.12 Bantamweight norm.
Level of competition

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 tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 136
Tier 3 — regional circuit 136

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

Ricky Simon

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 116
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 20
Tier 3 — regional circuit 91

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.18 · 13 tier-1/2 wins · 11 finish wins over 30 documented bouts

In the UFC: 6-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.1 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4401.91/min · norm 3.52
Sig. strikes landed
6513.02/min · norm 3.52
4862.11/min · norm 3.58
Sig. strikes absorbed
8644.01/min · norm 3.58
39.2%norm 43.4%
Striking accuracy
41.9%norm 43.4%
50.4%norm 56.6%
Striking defense
60.4%norm 56.6%
00.00/15 · norm 0.30
Knockdowns
50.35/15 · norm 0.30

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%)

Ricky Simon

Distance 88.9% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 4.6% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 6.5% (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%)

Ricky Simon

Head 84.2% (norm 77.4%) · Body 9.4% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 6.4% (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/AAccBantamweight med Simon L/AAccBantamweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 336 / 980 34.3% 39.0% 522 / 1383 37.7% 39.0%
In the clinch 23 / 38 60.5% 68.7% 55 / 71 77.5% 68.7%
On the ground 81 / 104 77.9% 70.2% 74 / 101 73.3% 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 239 / 849 28.2% 34.9% 456 / 1310 34.8% 34.9%
To the body 82 / 119 68.9% 66.8% 106 / 146 72.6% 66.8%
To the legs 119 / 154 77.3% 79.4% 89 / 99 89.9% 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/AOpp accBantamweight med vs Simon L/AOpp accBantamweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 311 / 757 41.1% 39.3% 788 / 2058 38.3% 39.3%
In the clinch 17 / 26 65.4% 70.4% 41 / 67 61.2% 70.4%
On the ground 158 / 196 80.6% 72.4% 35 / 55 63.6% 72.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 340 / 790 43.0% 34.9% 580 / 1807 32.1% 34.9%
To the body 95 / 121 78.5% 66.0% 180 / 239 75.3% 66.0%
To the legs 51 / 68 75.0% 79.1% 104 / 134 77.6% 79.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.

4131.1% acc · 2.66/15 · norm 1.12
Takedowns landed
5537.4% acc · 3.83/15 · norm 1.12
931.0% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
4078.4% def · norm 66.7%
88:2338.3% of cage time · norm 17.4%
Control time
62:3229.0% of cage time · norm 17.4%
62:554:05 per 15 · norm 2:24
Time under control
5:570:24 per 15 · norm 2:24
231.49/15 · norm 0.28
Submission attempts
40.28/15 · norm 0.28

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.