Aaron Riley vs. Robbie Lawler

UFC 3-6-0 vs. 15-10-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
3-6-0
UFC record
15-10-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
45
AgeΔ 1 yrs
44
5'8"
HeightΔ 3"
5'11"
69"
ReachΔ 5"
74"
Southpaw
Stance
Southpaw
156.4
Layoff (months)Δ 119.3 mo
37.1
LLWLW
Last 5 (newest first)
WLWLL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Robbie Lawler absorbs 5.18 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.06 Welterweight norm — hittable.
Robbie Lawler rarely shoots — 0.80 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Aaron Riley defends leg kicks well — opponents land just 52%, vs a 82% Lightweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Aaron Riley

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 46
Tier 3 — regional circuit 268

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.5 · 4 tier-1/2 wins · 19 finish wins over 45 documented bouts

In the UFC: 1-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.6 wins over .500

Robbie Lawler

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1510
Tier 3 — regional circuit 156

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.83 · 15 tier-1/2 wins · 23 finish wins over 47 documented bouts

In the UFC: 10-8 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.1 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

3143.29/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
13344.19/min · norm 3.17
3733.91/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
16505.18/min · norm 3.06
34.7%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
48.3%norm 44.9%
60.9%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
58.3%norm 55.25%
00.00/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
100.47/15 · norm 0.38

Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)

Aaron Riley

Distance 79.0% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 17.7% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 3.3% (norm 8.0%)

Robbie Lawler

Distance 78.8% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 14.6% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 6.6% (norm 8.1%)

What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)

Aaron Riley

Head 72.2% (norm 78.2%) · Body 15.7% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 12.1% (norm 7.9%)

Robbie Lawler

Head 85.9% (norm 78.2%) · Body 11.7% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 2.4% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.

Zone Riley L/AAccLightweight med Lawler L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 190 / 714 26.6% 37.9% 927 / 2176 42.6% 38.6%
In the clinch 102 / 160 63.8% 67.3% 288 / 403 71.5% 67.8%
On the ground 22 / 30 73.3% 69.1% 119 / 181 65.7% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 147 / 653 22.5% 35.0% 1012 / 2371 42.7% 37.2%
To the body 92 / 142 64.8% 69.1% 265 / 323 82.0% 70.7%
To the legs 75 / 109 68.8% 81.9% 57 / 66 86.4% 82.9%

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 · Welterweight: 182 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 Riley L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Lawler L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 259 / 761 34.0% 38.9% 1319 / 3467 38.0% 39.0%
In the clinch 100 / 168 59.5% 68.6% 293 / 437 67.0% 68.9%
On the ground 14 / 25 56.0% 68.0% 38 / 53 71.7% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 246 / 776 31.7% 35.1% 1049 / 3155 33.2% 35.6%
To the body 99 / 124 79.8% 68.1% 332 / 468 70.9% 69.6%
To the legs 28 / 54 51.9% 81.5% 269 / 334 80.5% 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
834.8% acc · 1.26/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
1773.9% acc · 0.80/15 · norm 1.27
1760.7% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
7064.8% def · norm 63.9%
18:3519.5% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
32:0910.1% of cage time · norm 18.5%
6:421:03 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
56:212:39 per 15 · norm 3:15
10.16/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.45

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