Compare Edson Barboza vs Esteban Ribovics — 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.
- Edson has 4 months more layoff
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.
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 | Edson Barboza | Esteban Ribovics |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | 1-2 | — |
| Top-5 | 3-5 | 0-1 |
| Top-15 | 6-5 | — |
| Contender-level | 0-1 | 1-1 |
| Established | 4-0 | — |
| Building | 1-0 | 2-1 |
| Unproven | 3-1 | 1-0 |
- L vs Jalin Turner#1368Dec 6, 2025 · Top-15
- L vs Drakkar Klose45Aug 16, 2025 · Contender-level
- L vs Lerone Murphy#1476May 18, 2024 · Top-5
- W vs Sodiq Yusuff#1168Oct 14, 2023 · Top-15
- W vs Billy Quarantillo30Apr 15, 2023 · Established
- L vs Bryce Mitchell#1169Mar 5, 2022 · Top-15
- L vs Giga Chikadze#1071Aug 28, 2021 · Top-15
- W vs Shane Burgos#970May 15, 2021 · Top-15
- W vs Makwan Amirkhani30Oct 10, 2020 · Established
- L vs Dan Ige#1568May 16, 2020 · Top-15
- L vs Paul Felder#1073Sep 7, 2019 · Top-15
- L vs Justin Gaethje#791Mar 30, 2019 · Champion
- W vs Dan Hooker#1474Dec 15, 2018 · Top-5
- L vs Kevin Lee#778Apr 21, 2018 · Top-5
- L vs Khabib Nurmagomedov#296Dec 30, 2017 · Champion
- W vs Beneil Dariush#979Mar 11, 2017 · Top-5
- W vs Gilbert Melendez#586Jul 23, 2016 · Top-5
- W vs Anthony Pettis#394Apr 23, 2016 · Champion
- L vs Tony Ferguson#787Dec 11, 2015 · Top-5
- W vs Paul Felder52Jul 25, 2015 · Top-15
- L vs Michael Johnson#1274Feb 22, 2015 · Top-5
- W vs King Green49Nov 22, 2014 · Top-15
- W vs Evan Dunham53Jul 16, 2014 · Top-15
- L vs Donald Cerrone#882Apr 19, 2014 · Top-5
- W vs Danny Castillo30Dec 14, 2013 · Established
- W vs Rafaello Oliveira8Jul 6, 2013 · Unproven
- W vs Lucas Martins15Jan 19, 2013 · Building
- L vs Jamie Varner8May 26, 2012 · Unproven
- W vs Terry Etim30Jan 14, 2012 · Established
- W vs Ross Pearson46Aug 27, 2011 · Top-15
- W vs Anthony Njokuani8Mar 19, 2011 · Unproven
- W vs Mike Lullo8Nov 20, 2010 · Unproven
- L vs Mateusz Gamrot#876Apr 11, 2026 · Top-5
- W vs Elves Brener18Aug 2, 2025 · Building
- L vs Nasrat Haqparast45Mar 1, 2025 · Contender-level
- W vs Daniel Zellhuber18Sep 14, 2024 · Building
- W vs Terrance McKinney40May 11, 2024 · Contender-level
- W vs Kamuela Kirk8Jul 8, 2023 · Unproven
- L vs Loik Radzhabov15Mar 4, 2023 · 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 Barboza attacks (green = high volume) vs where Ribovics gets hit (red = vulnerable) — Barboza’s green zones meeting Ribovics’s red zones are the openings.
- Head44%49th694
- Body32%90th500
- Leg25%87th392
Color = division rank · green elite → red low · % = share of strikes
- Head73%12th361
- Body20%19th97
- Leg7%55th35
Color = division rank · green elite → red low · % = share absorbed · partly opponent-dependent
- Standing91%1,447
- Clinch5%79
- Ground4%60
- Standing94%464
- Clinch3%13
- Ground3%16
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 | Edson Barboza | around division average27.5 | 30% | well below average49.1 | 694 |
| Head | Esteban Ribovics | elite — top of division63.5 | 38% | bottom of the division53.1 | 460 |
| Body | Edson Barboza | top 10% of division18.6 | 69% | around division average9.7 | 500 |
| Body | Esteban Ribovics | top 21% of division15.2 | 72% | well below average14.8 | 101 |
| Leg | Edson Barboza | top 13% of division14.6 | 78% | below division average9.5 | 392 |
| Leg | Esteban Ribovics | above division average9.0 | 83% | above division average6.9 | 54 |
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).
Evenly matched grappling — no clear edge either way.
Full breakdown — career grappling totals
| Metric | Edson Barboza | Esteban Ribovics |
|---|---|---|
| Takedowns landed / 15career takedowns | 0.411 | 0.42 |
| Takedown accuracycareer landed / attempted | 50%11 / 22 | 67%2 / 3 |
| Takedown defensecareer stopped / faced | 73%76 / 104 | 66%37 / 56 |
| Submission attempts / 15career attempts | 0.12 | 0.21 |
| Control time / 15 (min)career total | 1.0 min24:39 | 0.5 min2:51 |
| Time controlled by opponent / 15 (min)career total | 2.6 min66:53 | 3.9 min21:53 |
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 | Edson Barboza | Esteban Ribovics |
|---|---|---|
| Wins | ||
| by KO / TKO | 14(58%) | 7(47%) |
| by submission | 1(4%) | 5(33%) |
| by decision | 9(38%) | 3(20%) |
| Losses | ||
| by KO / TKO | 5(36%) | 0(0%) |
| by submission | 2(14%) | 1(33%) |
| by decision | 7(50%) | 2(67%) |
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 Jalin Turner6 months agoUFC 323: Dvalishvili vs. Yan 2 · Dec 6, 2025 · R1 · 2:24
- Last time submittedvs Tony Ferguson10y 6mo agoThe Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Faber Finale · Dec 11, 2015 · R2 · 2:54
- Last time KO'dNever finished by strikes in the UFC
- Last time submittedvs Mateusz Gamrot2 months agoUFC 327: Prochazka vs. Ulberg · Apr 11, 2026 · R2 · 4:19
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 Ribovics: Ribovics builds (+45% per round through round 3) while Barboza fades (-4% per round through round 3). Within fights that reached round 3, Barboza sustains 101% of round-1 output by round 3, Ribovics 234%.
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 | Edson Barboza | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 0.03 | 4% | 32 |
| R1 | Esteban Ribovics | 4.0 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 0.00 | 2% | 7 |
| R2 | Edson Barboza | 4.8 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 0.08 | 10% | 25 |
| R2 | Esteban Ribovics | 8.2 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 0.07 | 4% | 6 |
| R3 | Edson Barboza | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 0.05 | 5% | 22 |
| R3 | Esteban Ribovics | 10.9 | 10.6 | 6.7 | 0.04 | 4% | 5 |
| R4 | Edson Barboza | 4.6 | 4.5 | 8.8 | 0.00 | 2% | 3 |
| R4 | Esteban Ribovics | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| R5 | Edson Barboza | 7.0 | 5.5 | 6.7 | 0.33 | 13% | 3 |
| R5 | Esteban Ribovics | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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.