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Rafa Garcia

Lightweight · REAL v1.0 (registered) #28; v1.1 (shadow) #38

Descriptive profile. The resume rank is what has been earned; these statistics are context, not a prediction. A test on Oct 20, 2026 found that career statistics add nothing reliable to age, layoff and experience as predictors of the next result (experiments/REGISTER.md, EXP-2026-10-20-14).

Weight band 27-31: the 10th to 90th percentile of his position across weight vectors drawn near the 70/30 weights. Rating 1,590, deviation 122: measured from 12 UFC bouts; a one-bout newcomer sits near 290.

Age 32 (born 1994-08-05) · Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) · Reach 70 in (178 cm) · Stance Orthodox · 50 days since last bout (2026-09-12) · Last five 3-2 · Streak L1

Why he is ranked here

Rating 1,590 is the division's 31st highest of 96 board fighters; the ledger stands at -1.4 (+0.7 from quality wins, less 2.0 for other losses outside the top 5; losses count for three years); 3 quality wins in 15 years, 0 over top-10 opponents; no form penalty (3-2 last five). Score +0.11 = +0.13 (rating term, 70% weight) -0.03 (ledger term, 30% weight) -0.00 (form penalty); score order put him at #28.

TermValueDetail
Score+0.1170% rating term + 30% ledger term - form penalty
Rating term+0.13resume rating 1,590, scaled against the division's interdecile range
Ledger term-0.03quality ledger -1.4: +0.7 QW +0.0 proof -0.0 blowout -2.0 weak
Form penalty0.00last five 3-2
Quality wins, 15 years30 over top-10 opponents, 0 over top-15
Placementscore order #28v1.0 (registered)
Shadow board v1.1#38score -0.09; score order #38

Rules, weights and worked examples: methodology.

Last ten bouts

DateEventOpponentOpp. official rankResultMethodRoundModel p
2026-09-12Noche UFC: Silva vs. DelgadoRongzhuunrankedLunanimous decision3 (5:00)64%
2026-04-25UFC Fight Night: Sterling vs. ZalalAlexander HernandezunrankedWunanimous decision3 (5:00)47%
2025-09-13Noche UFC: Lopes vs. SilvaJared GordonunrankedWKO/TKO3 (2:27)34%
2025-03-29UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. ErcegVinc PichelunrankedWunanimous decision3 (5:00)53%
2024-10-12UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. TairaGrant DawsonunrankedLKO/TKO2 (1:42)36%
2023-04-15UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. AllenClay GuidaunrankedWunanimous decision3 (5:00)53%
2022-12-17UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. StricklandMaheshateunrankedWunanimous decision3 (5:00)36%
2022-07-30UFC 277: Pena vs. Nunes 2Drakkar KloseunrankedLunanimous decision3 (5:00)38%
2022-04-16UFC Fight Night: Luque vs. MuhammadJesse RonsonunrankedWsubmission2 (4:50)45%
2021-11-20UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. TateNatan LevyunrankedWunanimous decision3 (5:00)41%

Opp. official rank = the UFC media-panel rank of the opponent on the date (C champion, #1 to #15, unranked; n/a before Feb 2013 or where no official board existed). Model p = the predictive model's pre-fight win chance for him (frozen performance-adjusted Elo; bouts before 2020 were in its tuning sample). Linked opponents have a profile.

Career statistics

Through 2026-10-31, UFC bouts only. Percentile = share of the 96 board fighters at Lightweight at or below this value; high is a position in the division, not a verdict.

Output
Significant strikes landed per minute4.33(48th percentile at Lightweight)
Significant strike accuracy44%(24th percentile at Lightweight)
Knockdowns scored per 15 minutes0.09(26th percentile at Lightweight)
Share of wins by finish29%(19th percentile at Lightweight)
Defence and damage
Significant strikes absorbed per minute4.68(66th percentile at Lightweight)
Significant strike defence61%(93rd percentile at Lightweight)
Knockdowns suffered per 15 minutes0.00(35th percentile at Lightweight)
Significant strikes absorbed, career767(86th percentile at Lightweight)
KO/TKO losses1 (last 2024-10-12, 750 days ago)(62nd percentile at Lightweight)
Submission losses0(52nd percentile at Lightweight)
KO/TKO losses per bout over 10 years, each weighted down by the finisher's danger0.041(45th percentile at Lightweight)
Grappling
Takedowns landed per 15 minutes3.02(88th percentile at Lightweight)
Takedown defence77%(79th percentile at Lightweight)
Share of cage time in control21%(65th percentile at Lightweight)
Share of significant strikes landed in the clinch or on the ground15%(34th percentile at Lightweight)
Stylemixed (7.2 takedown attempts per 15 min; 21% control)
Career stage
Age32.2(56th percentile at Lightweight)
Age at UFC debut26.6(49th percentile at Lightweight)
Years since UFC debut5.6(57th percentile at Lightweight)
UFC bouts12(70th percentile at Lightweight)
Cage time, minutes164(82nd percentile at Lightweight)
Bouts per year, last three years1.7(64th percentile at Lightweight)
Days since last bout50(26th percentile at Lightweight)

Board position since Oct 2023

C102030405020252026Oct 2023Oct 20262023-10-06: #40, Lightweight2023-10-13: #40, Lightweight2023-10-20: #40, Lightweight2023-11-03: #38, Lightweight2023-11-10: #38, Lightweight2023-11-17: #37, Lightweight2023-12-01: #37, Lightweight2023-12-08: #37, Lightweight2023-12-15: #38, Lightweight2024-01-12: #38, Lightweight2024-01-19: #38, Lightweight2024-02-02: #37, Lightweight2024-02-09: #38, Lightweight2024-02-16: #39, Lightweight2024-02-23: #39, Lightweight2024-03-01: #37, Lightweight2024-03-08: #39, Lightweight2024-03-15: #31, Lightweight2024-03-22: #32, Lightweight2024-03-29: #32, Lightweight2024-04-05: #32, Lightweight2024-04-12: #32, Lightweight2024-04-26: #31, Lightweight2024-05-03: #32, Lightweight2024-05-10: #35, Lightweight2024-05-17: #38, Lightweight2024-05-31: #39, Lightweight2024-06-07: #38, Lightweight2024-06-14: #40, Lightweight2024-06-21: #41, Lightweight2024-06-28: #41, Lightweight2024-07-12: #42, Lightweight2024-07-19: #42, Lightweight2024-07-26: #42, Lightweight2024-08-02: #32, Lightweight2024-08-09: #32, Lightweight2024-08-16: #32, Lightweight2024-08-23: #32, Lightweight2024-09-06: #33, Lightweight2024-09-13: #34, Lightweight2024-09-27: #35, Lightweight2024-10-04: #35, Lightweight2024-10-18: #35, Lightweight2024-10-25: #35, Lightweight2024-11-01: #35, Lightweight2024-11-08: #35, Lightweight2024-11-15: #35, Lightweight2024-11-22: #35, Lightweight2024-12-06: #35, Lightweight2024-12-13: #34, Lightweight2025-01-10: #36, Lightweight2025-01-17: #37, Lightweight2025-01-31: #37, Lightweight2025-02-07: #37, Lightweight2025-02-14: #38, Lightweight2025-02-21: #37, Lightweight2025-02-28: #37, Lightweight2025-03-07: #36, Lightweight2025-03-14: #35, Lightweight2025-03-21: #35, Lightweight2025-03-28: #36, Lightweight2025-04-04: #35, Lightweight2025-04-11: #35, Lightweight2025-04-25: #35, Lightweight2025-05-02: #35, Lightweight2025-05-09: #35, Lightweight2025-05-16: #35, Lightweight2025-05-30: #35, Lightweight2025-06-06: #35, Lightweight2025-06-13: #36, Lightweight2025-06-20: #36, Lightweight2025-06-27: #36, Lightweight2025-07-11: #38, Lightweight2025-07-18: #38, Lightweight2025-07-25: #40, Lightweight2025-08-01: #32, Lightweight2025-08-08: #31, Lightweight2025-08-15: #31, Lightweight2025-08-22: #32, Lightweight2025-09-05: #32, Lightweight2025-09-12: #33, Lightweight2025-09-26: #20, Lightweight2025-10-03: #20, Lightweight2025-10-10: #18, Lightweight2025-10-17: #19, Lightweight2025-10-24: #19, Lightweight2025-10-31: #20, Lightweight2025-11-07: #20, Lightweight2025-11-14: #21, Lightweight2025-11-21: #19, Lightweight2025-12-05: #20, Lightweight2025-12-12: #21, Lightweight2026-01-23: #21, Lightweight2026-01-30: #20, Lightweight2026-02-06: #20, Lightweight2026-02-20: #21, Lightweight2026-02-27: #21, Lightweight2026-03-06: #22, Lightweight2026-03-13: #23, Lightweight2026-03-20: #23, Lightweight2026-03-27: #24, Lightweight2026-04-03: #22, Lightweight2026-04-10: #22, Lightweight2026-04-17: #22, Lightweight2026-04-24: #22, Lightweight2026-05-01: #20, Lightweight2026-05-08: #19, Lightweight2026-05-15: #17, Lightweight2026-05-29: #17, Lightweight2026-06-05: #17, Lightweight2026-06-13: #16, Lightweight2026-06-19: #16, Lightweight2026-06-26: #16, Lightweight2026-07-10: #15, Lightweight2026-07-17: #16, Lightweight2026-07-24: #16, Lightweight2026-07-31: #15, Lightweight2026-08-07: #15, Lightweight2026-08-14: #15, Lightweight2026-08-21: #16, Lightweight2026-08-28: #17, Lightweight2026-09-04: #17, Lightweight2026-09-11: #16, Lightweight2026-09-18: #26, Lightweight2026-09-25: #26, Lightweight2026-09-26: #26, Lightweight2026-10-03: #26, Lightweight2026-10-10: #28, Lightweight2026-10-17: #28, Lightweight2026-10-24: #28, Lightweight2026-10-31: #28, Lightweight#28

Position on the registered v1.0 board at each weekly snapshot (C = title holder or reserved, drawn at the top; lower is better). Absent from 1 of 132 snapshots (gaps in the line).

Predictive rating by bout

1,4001,4501,5001,5501,6001,6501,700202320242025Mar 2021Oct 20262021-03-13: 1,459 (L vs Nasrat Haqparast)2021-07-31: 1,434 (L vs Chris Gruetzemacher)2021-11-20: 1,463 (W vs Natan Levy)2022-04-16: 1,529 (W vs Jesse Ronson)2022-07-30: 1,509 (L vs Drakkar Klose)2022-12-17: 1,569 (W vs Maheshate)2023-04-15: 1,622 (W vs Clay Guida)2024-10-12: 1,564 (L vs Grant Dawson)2025-03-29: 1,560 (W vs Vinc Pichel)2025-09-13: 1,626 (W vs Jared Gordon)2026-04-25: 1,654 (W vs Alexander Hernandez)2026-09-12: 1,600 (L vs Rongzhu)1,600

Rating after each UFC bout from the frozen predictive model (performance-adjusted Elo, data/processed/elo_history.csv; a debut starts at 1,500). The resume rating's history is not stored, so this is the predictive line, which is a different number from the resume rating in the header.

Trajectory

Recent performances are in line with the rating (-5 points).

ComponentPointsMeaning
Age component-13what fighters aged 32.2 typically run relative to their rating (population curve, all UFC bouts since 2011)
Own recent results+8his recency-weighted mean and trend over 12 bouts, shrunk toward zero; trend -1 points a year
Combined-5the rating's likely distance from his current performance level, in rating points
Readingin line with ratingahead of, in line with (within 30 points), or behind the rating

Performance relative to the rating, by age

-1.0-0.5+0.0+0.5+1.026272829303132332021-03-13 (age 26.6): L vs Nasrat Haqparast, residual -0.142021-07-31 (age 27.0): L vs Chris Gruetzemacher, residual -0.102021-11-20 (age 27.3): W vs Natan Levy, residual +0.062022-04-16 (age 27.7): W vs Jesse Ronson, residual +0.472022-07-30 (age 28.0): L vs Drakkar Klose, residual -0.062022-12-17 (age 28.4): W vs Maheshate, residual +0.392023-04-15 (age 28.7): W vs Clay Guida, residual +0.552024-10-12 (age 30.2): L vs Grant Dawson, residual -0.302025-03-29 (age 30.6): W vs Vinc Pichel, residual +0.122025-09-13 (age 31.1): W vs Jared Gordon, residual +0.552026-04-25 (age 31.7): W vs Alexander Hernandez, residual +0.152026-09-12 (age 32.1): L vs Rongzhu, residual -0.35-0.01

Each dot is one decided UFC bout at his age then: the performance score minus the rating's expectation, on the score's own scale from -1 to +1 (filled = win, hollow = loss; above zero is better than the rating implied; a finish as a slight favourite is about +0.45). The dashed line is the population curve for all fighters; the solid line is this fighter's own fitted level and trend as of the data date, weighted toward recent bouts. One unit sustained over many bouts corresponds to about 695 rating points; a single bout's residual is noisy.

Held-out evidence (walk-forward 2016 to 2026, EXP-2026-10-21-01): the age curve held in every test year; the individual component is a weak signal (correlation 0.06 with the next bout's residual; among fighters aged 33 or over, the lowest predicted quartile won 38% of next bouts against 53% expected, the highest 48% against 52%) and adds nothing to bout prediction beyond the shadow model. No board uses any of it: the rankings answer who has earned the place, not who wins next (EXP-2026-10-20-09). Method: src/mmalab/decline.py; settings: config/decline.yaml (expectation from the resume rating; one unit of residual is about 695 rating points).

Context flags

Descriptive only. Each line is a population fact about fighters like him, not a forecast for him; the register entries hold the measurements.

REAL v1.0 (registered method) · build c166ee8 · data through 2026-10-31 · page built 2026-11-06 · changelog. Independent fan research project built on public UFCStats data. Not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by UFC, Zuffa, LLC, TKO Group Holdings, or any athlete. All trademarks belong to their owners and are used only to identify athletes and events.