Joao Zeferino vs. Rafael Natal

UFC 0-2-0 vs. 9-7-1

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
0-2-0
UFC record
9-7-1
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
40
AgeΔ 3 yrs
43
5'11"
HeightΔ 1"
6'0"
Reach
77"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
155.1
Layoff (months)Δ 46.6 mo
108.5
LL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Joao Zeferino is a submission threat — 1.00 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Welterweight norm.
Rafael Natal hunts takedowns — 2.55 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight norm.
Joao Zeferino rarely shoots — 0.50 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Joao Zeferino

Full career not yet synced for Joao Zeferino — 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 +0.5 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

250.83/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
6563.10/min · norm 3.25
782.60/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
5242.48/min · norm 3.20
36.8%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
47.9%norm 47.4%
48.3%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
57.6%norm 53.8%
00.00/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
50.35/15 · norm 0.32

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

Joao Zeferino

Distance 91.2% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 5.9% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 2.9% (norm 8.1%)

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)

Joao Zeferino

Head 79.4% (norm 78.2%) · Body 11.8% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 8.8% (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 Zeferino L/AAccWelterweight med Natal L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 20 / 62 32.3% 38.6% 432 / 1049 41.2% 40.5%
In the clinch 3 / 4 too few to rate 67.8% 79 / 111 71.2% 70.3%
On the ground 2 / 2 too few to rate 67.2% 145 / 210 69.0% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 18 / 54 33.3% 37.2% 379 / 976 38.8% 38.9%
To the body 5 / 8 too few to rate 70.7% 93 / 171 54.4% 71.7%
To the legs 2 / 6 too few to rate 82.9% 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 (Welterweight: 182 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 Zeferino L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Natal L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 32 / 89 36.0% 39.0% 369 / 1016 36.3% 39.5%
In the clinch 20 / 24 too few to rate 68.9% 58 / 89 65.2% 70.9%
On the ground 26 / 38 68.4% 68.0% 97 / 131 74.0% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 35 / 86 40.7% 35.6% 315 / 950 33.2% 37.9%
To the body 29 / 39 74.4% 69.6% 73 / 117 62.4% 71.3%
To the legs 14 / 26 53.8% 82.1% 136 / 169 80.5% 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
15.6% acc · 0.50/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
3634.3% acc · 2.55/15 · norm 1.42
250.0% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
2777.1% def · norm 63.1%
6:2821.6% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
53:3925.4% of cage time · norm 19.75%
9:334:46 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
30:472:10 per 15 · norm 3:00
21.00/15 · norm 0.45
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.