Sean Woodson vs.
Youssef Zalal
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.
Sean Woodson
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 8 | 2 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 1 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 4 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.51 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 5 finish wins over 16 documented bouts
In the UFC: 4-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.4 wins over .500
Youssef Zalal
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 8 | 4 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 4 | 2 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 6 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.33 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 14 finish wins over 25 documented bouts
In the UFC: 4-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.7 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)
Sean Woodson
Distance 96.0% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 3.3% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 0.7% (norm 6.5%)
Youssef Zalal
Distance 88.8% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 4.3% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 7.0% (norm 6.5%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Sean Woodson
Head 82.0% (norm 77.4%) · Body 10.5% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 7.5% (norm 7.8%)
Youssef Zalal
Head 75.9% (norm 77.4%) · Body 12.0% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 12.1% (norm 7.8%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Woodson L/A | Acc | Featherweight med | Zalal L/A | Acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 673 / 1485 | 45.3% | 40.9% | 389 / 792 | 49.1% | 40.9% |
| In the clinch | 41 / 51 | 80.4% | 70.8% | 28 / 38 | 73.7% | 70.8% |
| On the ground | 7 / 11 | too few to rate | 69.2% | 37 / 62 | 59.7% | 69.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 512 / 1269 | 40.3% | 37.2% | 288 / 677 | 42.5% | 37.2% |
| To the body | 109 / 162 | 67.3% | 68.2% | 76 / 107 | 71.0% | 68.2% |
| To the legs | 100 / 116 | 86.2% | 80.7% | 90 / 108 | 83.3% | 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 (Featherweight: 126 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 Woodson L/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med | vs Zalal L/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 470 / 1205 | 39.0% | 39.2% | 235 / 750 | 31.3% | 39.2% |
| In the clinch | 58 / 85 | 68.2% | 70.3% | 47 / 66 | 71.2% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 8 / 17 | too few to rate | 69.4% | 10 / 15 | too few to rate | 69.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 274 / 916 | 29.9% | 35.9% | 180 / 634 | 28.4% | 35.9% |
| To the body | 136 / 225 | 60.4% | 67.9% | 64 / 108 | 59.3% | 67.9% |
| To the legs | 126 / 166 | 75.9% | 81.5% | 48 / 89 | 53.9% | 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 — Zalal has more cage time on record.