Vitor Belfort vs.
Lyoto Machida
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.
Vitor Belfort
Full career not yet synced for Vitor Belfort — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 10-10 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.1 wins over .500
Lyoto Machida
Full career not yet synced for Lyoto Machida — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 13-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.0 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)
Vitor Belfort
Distance 59.1% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 19.3% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 21.6% (norm 10.3%)
Lyoto Machida
Distance 76.8% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 9.2% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 14.0% (norm 10.4%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Vitor Belfort
Head 88.0% (norm 78.0%) · Body 7.9% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 4.1% (norm 8.4%)
Lyoto Machida
Head 64.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 20.3% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 15.7% (norm 9.7%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Belfort L/A | Acc | Middleweight med | Machida L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 127 / 359 | 35.4% | 40.5% | 509 / 1063 | 47.9% | 41.4% |
| In the clinch | 68 / 117 | 58.1% | 70.3% | 89 / 127 | 70.1% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 92 / 131 | 70.2% | 69.1% | 118 / 194 | 60.8% | 72.3% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 231 / 534 | 43.3% | 38.9% | 360 / 886 | 40.6% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 34 / 48 | 70.8% | 71.7% | 196 / 281 | 69.8% | 71.9% |
| To the legs | 22 / 25 | 88.0% | 83.3% | 160 / 217 | 73.7% | 81.8% |
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: 174 fighters · Light Heavyweight: 93 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 Belfort L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med | vs Machida L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 195 / 499 | 39.1% | 39.5% | 301 / 996 | 30.2% | 40.4% |
| In the clinch | 88 / 132 | 66.7% | 70.9% | 111 / 162 | 68.5% | 68.7% |
| On the ground | 218 / 304 | 71.7% | 69.0% | 50 / 77 | 64.9% | 70.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 335 / 719 | 46.6% | 37.9% | 204 / 799 | 25.5% | 37.5% |
| To the body | 52 / 80 | 65.0% | 71.3% | 102 / 191 | 53.4% | 72.3% |
| To the legs | 114 / 136 | 83.8% | 82.1% | 156 / 245 | 63.7% | 83.0% |
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 — Belfort has more cage time on record.