Compare Beneil Dariush vs Rafael Fiziev — UFC matchup breakdown
Tale of the Tape
The biometric deltas where one side genuinely has an edge.
Activity & layoff
The recency dimension Tale of the Tape doesn't carry. How active each fighter has been, and how that compares to active peers in their division.
Division percentiles below rank both fighters against the Lightweight roster (470 fighters).
Recent form
Last five pro bouts (non-UFC fights dashed + tagged), current trajectory, and the level of opposition going into this matchup.
Common opponents
Every UFC opponent both fighters have faced — a direct comparison controlling for matchmaking.
Schedule Score
Who they've faced × what they've done. Composite + components compared head-to-head, percentile-ranked against every UFC fighter w/ ≥3 resolved bouts.
Per-tier records + bout-by-bout
| Tier | Beneil Dariush | Rafael Fiziev |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | 0-1 | 1-2 |
| Top-5 | 4-3 | 0-1 |
| Top-15 | 7-3-1 | 4-1 |
| Contender-level | 2-0 | — |
| Established | 2-1 | 1-0 |
| Building | — | 1-1 |
| Unproven | 2-0 | — |
- L vs Quillan Salkilld49May 2, 2026 · Top-15
- L vs Benoit Saint Denis#1373Nov 15, 2025 · Top-5
- W vs Renato Moicano#1069Jun 28, 2025 · Top-15
- L vs Arman Tsarukyan#884Dec 2, 2023 · Top-5
- L vs Charles Oliveira#198Jun 10, 2023 · Champion
- W vs Mateusz Gamrot#975Oct 22, 2022 · Top-5
- W vs Tony Ferguson#589May 15, 2021 · Top-5
- W vs Diego Ferreira#1071Feb 6, 2021 · Top-15
- W vs Scott Holtzman30Aug 8, 2020 · Established
- W vs Drakkar Klose40Mar 7, 2020 · Contender-level
- W vs Frank Camacho12Oct 26, 2019 · Unproven
- W vs Drew Dober52Mar 9, 2019 · Top-15
- W vs Thiago Moises43Nov 10, 2018 · Top-15
- L vs Alexander Hernandez46Mar 3, 2018 · Top-15
- D vs Evan Dunham#1464Oct 7, 2017 · Top-15
- L vs Edson Barboza#582Mar 11, 2017 · Top-5
- W vs Rashid Magomedov#1562Nov 5, 2016 · Top-15
- W vs James Vick55Jun 4, 2016 · Top-15
- L vs Michael Chiesa#1470Apr 16, 2016 · Top-15
- W vs Michael Johnson#578Aug 8, 2015 · Top-5
- W vs Jim Miller#1275Apr 18, 2015 · Top-5
- W vs Daron Cruickshank30Mar 14, 2015 · Established
- W vs Diego Ferreira49Oct 25, 2014 · Top-15
- W vs Anthony Rocco Martin32Aug 23, 2014 · Contender-level
- L vs Ramsey Nijem26Apr 11, 2014 · Established
- W vs Charlie Brenneman12Jan 15, 2014 · Unproven
- L vs Mauricio Ruffy#1469Jan 31, 2026 · Top-15
- W vs Ignacio Bahamondes#1560Jun 21, 2025 · Top-15
- L vs Justin Gaethje#394Mar 8, 2025 · Champion
- L vs Mateusz Gamrot#776Sep 23, 2023 · Top-5
- L vs Justin Gaethje#394Mar 18, 2023 · Champion
- W vs Rafael Dos Anjos#791Jul 9, 2022 · Champion
- W vs Brad Riddell#1265Dec 4, 2021 · Top-15
- W vs King Green#1364Aug 7, 2021 · Top-15
- W vs Renato Moicano61Dec 12, 2020 · Top-15
- W vs Marc Diakiese30Jul 18, 2020 · Established
- W vs Alex White18Oct 26, 2019 · Building
- L vs Magomed Mustafaev18Apr 20, 2019 · Building
All figures are 0–100 ratings (shown as %), not percentages of anything literal. Schedule strength = the average quality of every UFC opponent faced (win or lose). Win quality = the average quality of the opponents actually beaten. The composite Schedule Score combines schedule strength (65%) with win quality (35%). Per-bout opponent quality is scored on rank-at-time-of-fight (champion 100, ranks 1–5 = 90→78, ranks 6–15 = 75→60), with cross-division and P4P signals layered on, falling back to opponent UFC record-at-time for unranked opponents. For fighters with limited UFC experience the headline is held toward a rookie baseline, so debut / low-sample fighters read lower than established names. UFC ranking data is sparse before December 2018, so legacy-era fighters score from record-at-time when ranks are missing.
Career splits
Striking matchup
Each fighter's offense mapped against the other's defense — where one attacks meets where the other gets hit, across head, body, and leg. Per 15 minutes of UFC fight time.
Evenly matched striking — no clear edge either way.
Where Dariush attacks (green = high volume) vs where Fiziev gets hit (red = vulnerable) — Dariush’s green zones meeting Fiziev’s red zones are the openings.
- Head60%65th505
- Body23%68th191
- Leg17%66th140
Color = division rank · green elite → red low · % = share of strikes
- Head64%24th448
- Body21%23rd146
- Leg15%29th106
Color = division rank · green elite → red low · % = share absorbed · partly opponent-dependent
- Standing67%561
- Clinch15%128
- Ground18%147
- Standing85%594
- Clinch11%80
- Ground4%26
Each lane: the attacker’s strike rate (offense) vs the other’s rate absorbed (defense), graded on the division. The bar leans toward whoever wins the exchange — longer + greener = a bigger, higher-quality edge.
Full breakdown — all zones, both views
| Zone | Fighter | Landed / 15 | Accuracy | Absorbed / 15 | Career landed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head | Beneil Dariush | above division average33.2 | 40% | above division average26.6 | 505 |
| Head | Rafael Fiziev | above division average30.2 | 38% | well below average43.3 | 292 |
| Body | Beneil Dariush | above division average12.4 | 70% | below division average10.4 | 191 |
| Body | Rafael Fiziev | elite — top of division24.1 | 71% | well below average14.0 | 274 |
| Leg | Beneil Dariush | above division average9.2 | 88% | top 27% of division4.5 | 140 |
| Leg | Rafael Fiziev | top 23% of division11.0 | 76% | well below average10.4 | 115 |
Per-15-minute rates are sourced from UFCStats fight totals across each fighter’s UFC career. Division percentile is computed against every UFC fighter who has competed in this weight class with at least two recorded bouts. Lower “absorbed” values are better — the percentile is inverted so “top of division” always means better outcome.
Grappling matchup
Takedowns, submission threat, and control. Per 15 minutes of UFC fight time, with takedown defense as a percentage of opponent attempts stopped.
Each metric graded on the division — the bar leans toward whoever wins that part of the grappling exchange (longer + greener = a bigger edge).
Dariush has the grappling edge (+15).
Full breakdown — career grappling totals
| Metric | Beneil Dariush | Rafael Fiziev |
|---|---|---|
| Takedowns landed / 15career takedowns | 2.233 | 0.88 |
| Takedown accuracycareer landed / attempted | 38%33 / 86 | 67%8 / 12 |
| Takedown defensecareer stopped / faced | 83%43 / 52 | 90%47 / 52 |
| Submission attempts / 15career attempts | 0.812 | 0.00 |
| Control time / 15 (min)career total | 6.1 min90:59 | 1.0 min10:07 |
| Time controlled by opponent / 15 (min)career total | 1.3 min19:48 | 1.3 min12:56 |
All rates computed from UFCStats fight totals across each fighter’s UFC career. Takedown defense = opponent attempts stopped ÷ opponent total attempts. Control time figures are minutes the fighter spent in a dominant position per 15 minutes of fight time. Accuracy under 8 career attempts is shown raw and ungraded — too small a sample to rate against the division.
Finishing & durability
How often each fighter ends fights early — and how often they get put away. Outcomes view, not per-minute output.
When their fights end
every pro finish on the fight clockFinish & durability rates
Full professional career
Full method breakdown
| Outcome | Beneil Dariush | Rafael Fiziev |
|---|---|---|
| Wins | ||
| by KO / TKO | 5(22%) | 8(62%) |
| by submission | 8(35%) | 1(8%) |
| by decision | 10(43%) | 4(31%) |
| Losses | ||
| by KO / TKO | 7(88%) | 3(60%) |
| by submission | 1(13%) | 0(0%) |
| by decision | 0(0%) | 2(40%) |
Full professional career method splits, graded against the full-pro division distribution. Career KO losses are the total — clean knockouts and cut/injury stoppages can’t be separated outside the UFC corpus. Finish-time pace is UFC-only.
KO history
UFC fights only — knockout power and chin durability, head-to-head, then when the last finish landed, and on whom.
- Last time KO'dvs Quillan Salkilld7 weeks agoUFC Fight Night: Della Maddalena vs. Prates · May 2, 2026 · R1 · 3:29
- Last time submittedvs Michael Chiesa10y 2mo agoUFC on FOX: Teixeira vs. Evans · Apr 16, 2016 · R2 · 1:20
- Last time KO'dvs Mauricio Ruffy4 months agoUFC 325: Volkanovski vs. Lopes 2 · Jan 31, 2026 · R2 · 4:30
- Last time submittedNever submitted in the UFC
Pace & fade
How each fighter's work rate holds up as a fight wears on — round-by-round output (striking, takedown attempts, and control time combined), and whether they fade. The fade % compares round-3 output to round 1 over bouts that reached the third round.
Cardio edge to Fiziev: Fiziev builds (+20% per round through round 3) while Dariush fades (-3% per round through round 3). Within fights that reached round 3, Dariush sustains 100% of round-1 output by round 3, Fiziev 140%.
Rounds backed by fewer than 2 bouts are drawn smaller and dimmed with an n= count — a deep round seen in one or two fights is a thin sample, not a settled rate. Per-round bout counts are in the breakdown below.
Full per-round breakdown — both fighters
What drives the pace · per round
The composite output line above blends these three inputs. Splitting them out shows whether a fighter’s work rate is built on striking volume, takedown pressure, or top control — and which input fades.
| Round | Fighter | Output / min | Sig landed / min | Sig absorbed / min | TD att / min | Control | Bouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Beneil Dariush | 6.7 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 0.39 | 34% | 26 |
| R1 | Rafael Fiziev | 4.5 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 0.07 | 7% | 12 |
| R2 | Beneil Dariush | 6.4 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 0.40 | 50% | 16 |
| R2 | Rafael Fiziev | 5.1 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 0.09 | 5% | 10 |
| R3 | Beneil Dariush | 6.3 | 3.6 | 2.4 | 0.34 | 43% | 10 |
| R3 | Rafael Fiziev | 6.7 | 6.1 | 6.9 | 0.11 | 7% | 8 |
| R4 | Beneil Dariush | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| R4 | Rafael Fiziev | 3.6 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 0.00 | 29% | 1 |
| R5 | Beneil Dariush | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| R5 | Rafael Fiziev | 14.0 | 13.3 | 6.7 | 0.00 | 17% | 1 |
Output / minis the headline work rate — significant strikes landed, plus 3 per takedown attempt, plus one per 15 seconds of control — so a takedown-and-grind round isn’t scored as idle the way bare striking volume would. The remaining columns are its components. Per-round rates use UFCStats per-round data (available for ~95% of bouts since 2008). Each round’s rates are averaged only over bouts that reached that round, so the bout count shrinks as rounds deepen. The final round of a finished fight is pro-rated by its actual length — a 2:30 stoppage counts as 2.5 minutes, not five — so an early finish doesn’t distort the per-minute pace.