Mehdi Baghdad vs. John Makdessi
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Mehdi Baghdad
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 0 | 2 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 2 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 11 | 5 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.43 · 2 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 20 documented bouts
In the UFC: 0-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.0 wins over .500
John Makdessi
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 11 | 9 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 7 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.02 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 27 documented bouts
In the UFC: 6-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.1 wins over .500
Striking
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Mehdi Baghdad
Distance 93.9% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 4.0% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 2.0% (norm 8.0%)
John Makdessi
Distance 93.7% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 4.3% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 2.0% (norm 8.0%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Mehdi Baghdad
Head 78.8% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.6% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 11.6% (norm 7.9%)
John Makdessi
Head 63.5% (norm 78.2%) · Body 21.1% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 15.5% (norm 7.9%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Baghdad L/A | Acc | Lightweight med | Makdessi L/A | Acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 54 / 186 | 29.0% | 37.9% | 1249 / 2520 | 49.6% | 37.9% |
| In the clinch | 3 / 8 | too few to rate | 67.3% | 64 / 115 | 55.7% | 67.3% |
| On the ground | 4 / 4 | too few to rate | 69.1% | 27 / 55 | 49.1% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 33 / 156 | 21.2% | 35.0% | 678 / 1707 | 39.7% | 35.0% |
| To the body | 8 / 19 | too few to rate | 69.1% | 325 / 567 | 57.3% | 69.1% |
| To the legs | 20 / 23 | too few to rate | 81.9% | 337 / 416 | 81.0% | 81.9% |
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 · Lightweight: 201 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 Baghdad L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med | vs Makdessi L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 80 / 139 | 57.6% | 38.9% | 942 / 3050 | 30.9% | 38.9% |
| In the clinch | 3 / 10 | too few to rate | 68.6% | 41 / 66 | 62.1% | 68.6% |
| On the ground | 6 / 16 | too few to rate | 68.0% | 25 / 38 | 65.8% | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 35 / 97 | 36.1% | 35.1% | 572 / 2497 | 22.9% | 35.1% |
| To the body | 27 / 37 | 73.0% | 68.1% | 204 / 363 | 56.2% | 68.1% |
| To the legs | 27 / 31 | 87.1% | 81.5% | 232 / 294 | 78.9% | 81.5% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Makdessi has more cage time on record.