Jesse Bongfeldt vs. Rafael Natal

UFC 0-1-1 vs. 9-7-1

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
0-1-1
UFC record
9-7-1
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
45
AgeΔ 2 yrs
43
6'0"
HeightΔ 0"
6'0"
Reach
77"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
181.9
Layoff (months)Δ 73.4 mo
108.5
LD
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Rafael Natal hunts takedowns — 2.55 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight norm.
Jesse Bongfeldt is hard to hit — absorbs 1.01 sig. strikes per minute, vs a 3.20 Middleweight norm.
Jesse Bongfeldt's takedown defense leaks — 33% stopped, vs a 63% Middleweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Jesse Bongfeldt

Full career not yet synced for Jesse Bongfeldt — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.0 wins over .500

Rafael Natal

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 97
Tier 3 — regional circuit 122

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.83 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 31 documented bouts

In the UFC: 3-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.7 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

582.91/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
6563.10/min · norm 3.25
201.01/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
5242.48/min · norm 3.20
62.4%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
47.9%norm 47.4%
50.0%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
57.6%norm 53.8%
00.00/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
50.35/15 · norm 0.32

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

Jesse Bongfeldt

Distance 40.9% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 10.8% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 48.4% (norm 10.3%)

Rafael Natal

Distance 76.6% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 8.1% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 15.3% (norm 10.3%)

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

Jesse Bongfeldt

Head 77.4% (norm 78.0%) · Body 11.8% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 10.8% (norm 8.4%)

Rafael Natal

Head 71.2% (norm 78.0%) · Body 12.5% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 16.3% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Bongfeldt L/AAccMiddleweight med Natal L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 15 / 38 39.5% 40.5% 432 / 1049 41.2% 40.5%
In the clinch 9 / 10 too few to rate 70.3% 79 / 111 71.2% 70.3%
On the ground 34 / 45 75.6% 69.1% 145 / 210 69.0% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 39 / 72 54.2% 38.9% 379 / 976 38.8% 38.9%
To the body 11 / 11 too few to rate 71.7% 93 / 171 54.4% 71.7%
To the legs 8 / 10 too few to rate 83.3% 184 / 223 82.5% 83.3%

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 · Middleweight: 174 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 Bongfeldt L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Natal L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 3 / 15 too few to rate 39.5% 369 / 1016 36.3% 39.5%
In the clinch 8 / 11 too few to rate 70.9% 58 / 89 65.2% 70.9%
On the ground 9 / 14 too few to rate 69.0% 97 / 131 74.0% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 15 / 33 45.5% 37.9% 315 / 950 33.2% 37.9%
To the body 2 / 3 too few to rate 71.3% 73 / 117 62.4% 71.3%
To the legs 3 / 4 too few to rate 82.1% 136 / 169 80.5% 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
233.3% acc · 1.51/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
3634.3% acc · 2.55/15 · norm 1.42
333.3% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
2777.1% def · norm 63.1%
5:1526.4% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
53:3925.4% of cage time · norm 19.75%
9:497:23 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
30:472:10 per 15 · norm 3:00
00.00/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
70.50/15 · norm 0.47

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