Thiago Santos vs. Cezar Ferreira
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Thiago Santos
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 14 | 12 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 9 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.96 · 14 tier-1/2 wins · 17 finish wins over 37 documented bouts
In the UFC: 11-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.6 wins over .500
Cezar Ferreira
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 10 | 9 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 4 | 2 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.69 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 8 finish wins over 25 documented bouts
In the UFC: 4-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.9 wins over .500
Striking
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Thiago Santos
Distance 69.7% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 9.8% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 20.5% (norm 10.3%)
Cezar Ferreira
Distance 86.0% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 4.2% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 9.8% (norm 10.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Thiago Santos
Head 65.9% (norm 78.0%) · Body 16.8% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 17.3% (norm 8.4%)
Cezar Ferreira
Head 67.7% (norm 78.0%) · Body 20.1% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 12.3% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Santos L/A | Acc | Middleweight med | Ferreira L/A | Acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 512 / 1285 | 39.8% | 40.5% | 233 / 596 | 39.1% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 150 / 181 | 82.9% | 70.3% | 18 / 29 | 62.1% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 226 / 378 | 59.8% | 69.1% | 46 / 68 | 67.6% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 455 / 1216 | 37.4% | 38.9% | 157 / 469 | 33.5% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 204 / 309 | 66.0% | 71.7% | 75 / 139 | 54.0% | 71.7% |
| To the legs | 229 / 319 | 71.8% | 83.3% | 65 / 85 | 76.5% | 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 Santos L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med | vs Ferreira L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 417 / 1085 | 38.4% | 39.5% | 260 / 651 | 39.9% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 87 / 110 | 79.1% | 70.9% | 63 / 97 | 64.9% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 110 / 138 | 79.7% | 69.0% | 58 / 77 | 75.3% | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 330 / 914 | 36.1% | 37.9% | 260 / 645 | 40.3% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 141 / 215 | 65.6% | 71.3% | 58 / 87 | 66.7% | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 143 / 204 | 70.1% | 82.1% | 63 / 93 | 67.7% | 82.1% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Santos has more cage time on record.