Demian Maia vs. Colby Covington

UFC 22-11-0 vs. 12-5-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
22-11-0
UFC record
12-5-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
48
AgeΔ 10 yrs
38
6'1"
HeightΔ 2"
5'11"
72"
ReachΔ 0"
72"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
61.9
Layoff (months)Δ 42.1 mo
19.8
LLWWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWLW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Colby Covington hunts takedowns — 3.64 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Colby Covington owns the mat — in control 43% of cage time, vs a 18% Welterweight norm.
Demian Maia is a submission threat — 0.99 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Welterweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Demian Maia

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 2211
Tier 3 — regional circuit 40

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.45 · 22 tier-1/2 wins · 16 finish wins over 37 documented bouts

In the UFC: 16-11 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.6 wins over .500

Colby Covington

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 125
Tier 3 — regional circuit 50

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.42 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 8 finish wins over 22 documented bouts

In the UFC: 9-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.7 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

7391.80/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
10993.81/min · norm 3.17
8462.07/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
8903.09/min · norm 3.06
43.6%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
38.5%norm 44.9%
63.6%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
54.8%norm 55.25%
10.04/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
10.05/15 · norm 0.38

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

Demian Maia

Distance 70.0% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 8.0% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 22.0% (norm 8.1%)

Colby Covington

Distance 88.7% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 5.6% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 5.7% (norm 8.1%)

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

Demian Maia

Head 88.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.0% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 2.9% (norm 8.4%)

Colby Covington

Head 83.9% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.3% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 6.8% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Maia L/AAccWelterweight med Covington L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 371 / 1188 31.2% 38.6% 876 / 2533 34.6% 38.6%
In the clinch 89 / 135 65.9% 67.8% 107 / 159 67.3% 67.8%
On the ground 279 / 373 74.8% 67.2% 116 / 164 70.7% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 592 / 1493 39.7% 37.2% 763 / 2396 31.8% 37.2%
To the body 108 / 153 70.6% 70.7% 174 / 265 65.7% 70.7%
To the legs 39 / 50 78.0% 82.9% 162 / 195 83.1% 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 (Welterweight: 182 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 Maia L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Covington L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 655 / 2026 32.3% 39.0% 740 / 1790 41.3% 39.0%
In the clinch 58 / 95 61.1% 68.9% 95 / 112 84.8% 68.9%
On the ground 133 / 206 64.6% 68.0% 55 / 66 83.3% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 567 / 1924 29.5% 35.6% 578 / 1561 37.0% 35.6%
To the body 106 / 185 57.3% 69.6% 209 / 290 72.1% 69.6%
To the legs 173 / 218 79.4% 82.1% 103 / 117 88.0% 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
6824.8% acc · 2.49/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
7042.7% acc · 3.64/15 · norm 1.27
2461.5% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
2069.0% def · norm 63.9%
155:1937.9% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
125:0443.4% of cage time · norm 18.5%
49:591:49 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
9:010:28 per 15 · norm 3:15
270.99/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
30.16/15 · norm 0.45

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