Ross Pearson vs.
Cub Swanson
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.
Ross Pearson
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 12 | 13 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 8 | 4 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.53 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 38 documented bouts
In the UFC: 6-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.7 wins over .500
Cub Swanson
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 16 | 10 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 15 | 4 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.93 · 16 tier-1/2 wins · 19 finish wins over 45 documented bouts
In the UFC: 12-10 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.9 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)
Ross Pearson
Distance 89.3% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 8.9% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 1.8% (norm 8.0%)
Cub Swanson
Distance 88.3% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 6.4% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 5.3% (norm 6.5%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Ross Pearson
Head 73.2% (norm 78.2%) · Body 17.5% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 9.3% (norm 7.9%)
Cub Swanson
Head 72.9% (norm 77.4%) · Body 13.8% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 13.3% (norm 7.8%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Pearson L/A | Acc | Lightweight med | Swanson L/A | Acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 915 / 2470 | 37.0% | 37.9% | 1363 / 2764 | 49.3% | 40.9% |
| In the clinch | 172 / 245 | 70.2% | 67.3% | 160 / 199 | 80.4% | 70.8% |
| On the ground | 27 / 51 | 52.9% | 69.1% | 122 / 166 | 73.5% | 69.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 588 / 2025 | 29.0% | 35.0% | 992 / 2281 | 43.5% | 37.2% |
| To the body | 314 / 485 | 64.7% | 69.1% | 323 / 432 | 74.8% | 68.2% |
| To the legs | 212 / 256 | 82.8% | 81.9% | 330 / 416 | 79.3% | 80.7% |
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 (Lightweight: 201 fighters · Featherweight: 126 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 Pearson L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med | vs Swanson L/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 977 / 2884 | 33.9% | 38.9% | 1129 / 2932 | 38.5% | 39.2% |
| In the clinch | 203 / 307 | 66.1% | 68.6% | 127 / 193 | 65.8% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 58 / 84 | 69.0% | 68.0% | 124 / 204 | 60.8% | 69.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 789 / 2642 | 29.9% | 35.1% | 885 / 2628 | 33.7% | 35.9% |
| To the body | 245 / 365 | 67.1% | 68.1% | 247 / 370 | 66.8% | 67.9% |
| To the legs | 204 / 268 | 76.1% | 81.5% | 248 / 331 | 74.9% | 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 — Pearson has more cage time on record.