Waldo Cortes Acosta vs.
Ante Delija
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.
Waldo Cortes Acosta
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 12 | 3 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 2 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 3 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.86 · 14 tier-1/2 wins · 10 finish wins over 20 documented bouts
In the UFC: 7-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.4 wins over .500
Ante Delija
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 10 | 5 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 16 | 3 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.06 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 19 finish wins over 34 documented bouts
In the UFC: 1-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.3 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)
Waldo Cortes Acosta
Distance 90.3% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 2.6% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 7.0% (norm 9.3%)
Ante Delija
Distance 94.9% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 3.0% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 2.1% (norm 9.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Waldo Cortes Acosta
Head 80.7% (norm 79.2%) · Body 10.5% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 8.8% (norm 7.6%)
Ante Delija
Head 96.2% (norm 79.2%) · Body 3.4% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 0.4% (norm 7.6%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Acosta L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med | Delija L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 669 / 1410 | 47.4% | 40.1% | 82 / 224 | 36.6% | 40.1% |
| In the clinch | 24 / 41 | 58.5% | 70.6% | 4 / 7 | too few to rate | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 66 / 110 | 60.0% | 70.2% | 4 / 5 | too few to rate | 70.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 537 / 1260 | 42.6% | 38.9% | 82 / 227 | 36.1% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 113 / 164 | 68.9% | 76.8% | 7 / 8 | too few to rate | 76.8% |
| To the legs | 109 / 137 | 79.6% | 87.8% | 1 / 1 | too few to rate | 87.8% |
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 (Heavyweight: 93 fighters · 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 Acosta L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med | vs Delija L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 516 / 1139 | 45.3% | 40.7% | 73 / 163 | 44.8% | 40.7% |
| In the clinch | 12 / 26 | 46.2% | 70.6% | 4 / 6 | too few to rate | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 1 / 2 | too few to rate | 72.0% | 6 / 6 | too few to rate | 72.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 212 / 795 | 26.7% | 38.8% | 75 / 161 | 46.6% | 38.8% |
| To the body | 108 / 150 | 72.0% | 75.1% | 6 / 12 | too few to rate | 75.1% |
| To the legs | 209 / 222 | 94.1% | 84.4% | 2 / 2 | too few to rate | 84.4% |
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 — Acosta has more cage time on record.