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UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Gutierrez
Steve Garcia
Steve Garcia
14-5 · USA
VS
Melquizael Costa
Melquizael Costa
20-6 · BRA
December 9, 2023 · Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Lightweight · 3 rounds
155.0lb
Weigh-in
155.5lb
Steve Garcia def. Melquizael Costa by KO/TKO (Elbows), R2 1:01
Performance
Round by round
SSTDKDCtrl
R1
Garcia4/110/000:00
Costa5/72/904:41
R2 · 1:01
Garcia25/380/010:46
Costa1/30/100:00
Total
Garcia29/490/010:46
Costa6/102/1004:41

Pre-fight

The model's read going in

The walk-forward model's call at the time of the bout — persisted out-of-sample, with no hindsight about the result.

Prediction
GarciaWin probabilityCosta
43.8%56.2%
KO / TKO
29%
Submission
25%
Decision
46%
Expected fight time: 9.7 min
Retrospective pick: the walk-forward model's call at the time of the fight — persisted out-of-sample, with no hindsight about the result.
What drives the pick

Each bar is a feature's push on the model from the center axis. Red pushes toward Garcia, blue toward Costa. Tap a bar for why.

Predicted outcomes
Garcia44%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO18%40%17%
Submission7%17%6%
Decision19%43%9%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes35 (1447)act 29
Takedowns0.9 (0.03.2)act 0
Costa56%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO11%19%33%
Submission18%32%16%
Decision27%49%20%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes41 (1756)act 6
Takedowns0.7 (0.02.8)act 2
Combined totals~76 sig strikes~1.6 takedownsmkt —
How it ends
mkt —
R132%
R214%
R38%
Distance46%
Fighter props
Most sig. strikestie 1.2%
Garcia
43.8%+125
Costa
-12554.9%
Most takedownstie 36.3%
Garcia
35.3%-124
Costa
+12428.4%
Significant strikes — over/under
Garcia
Expected: 35.0
35
Over 35
39.0%
+153
Exactly 35
1.4%
push
Under 35
59.6%
-153
04488
Costa
Expected: 41.3
41.5
Over 41.5
39.5%
+153
Under 41.5
60.5%
-153
052104
Takedowns — over/under
Garcia
Expected: 0.9
1
Over 1
30.3%
+176
Exactly 1
16.4%
push
Under 1
53.3%
-176
035
Costa
Expected: 0.7
0.5
Over 0.5
40.2%
+149
Under 0.5
59.8%
-149
035

Odds are model-implied (no real prop market is priced for these). The “most” prices are draw-no-bet — a tie (for takedowns, usually 0–0) is a push, so each side is priced off its chance of winning given a result, while the % shown is the raw chance of landing strictly more. Drag a line in half-point steps: a half line (e.g. 2.5) is a clean over/under, while a whole number adds a third outcome — landing exactly on it, a push — so over, exact and under sum to 100%. On a whole number the over/under odds are draw-no-bet (priced off the decisive mass, since the push refunds), so the two sides stay mirror images rather than implying an arbitrage.

Expected fight time 9.7 min. Predicted-output ranges are percentiles of the model’s simulated fights: sig strikes the middle 50% (25th–75th); takedowns the wider 10th–90th, since they’re 0 in most fights so a narrow band would collapse to 0. Win-by-method = win probability × that fighter’s own method split: the model forecasts how the fight ends, and that forecast is divided between the corners by each fighter’s finishing record — UFC wins in full, earlier-career wins at half weight, as of fight night — reconciled so the fighters’ totals still equal their win probabilities and the methods still total the fight-level forecast above. “Equity” is each of those over that fighter’s win % — how they win given that they win — so a column adds to 100%, and it differs by corner. A fighter with no classifiable wins at any level leans on the fight-level split. “How it ends” is the model’s round-of-finish split. “Mkt” is the de-vigged market prop (consensus across books), shown for context, not as a betting signal; rounds & totals slots fill as that data lands. Percentages are apportioned by largest remainder, so each set adds to its total exactly and an individual figure can sit a point off its own rounding.

Model vs market
Final
ModelMarketGapLine
To win
Garcia43.8%29.1%+14.7+227
Costa56.2%70.9%−14.7-292
By method
Garcia by KO/TKO12.5%16.8%−4.3+392
Garcia by submission11.1%6.0%+5.1+1280
Garcia by decision20.1%8.7%+11.4+852
Costa by KO/TKO16.1%32.5%−16.4+155
Costa by submission14.3%15.7%−1.4+428
Costa by decision25.8%20.3%+5.5+308
Total rounds (over)
Over 1.5 rds67.7%50.1%+17.6-115
Over 2.5 rds53.8%35.9%+17.9+159
Goes the distance
Fight goes to decision45.9%31.5%+14.4+197

Market % is the de-vigged (no-vig) consensus across the books that price both fighters; the line is the average across books with the min–max range in parentheses. Gap is the model minus the market in points (+ = the model rates that outcome above the market). Thin or one-sided markets are flagged or left blank rather than shown as a fabricated %. Shown for context, not as a bet — the closing line is the sharpest public price and the model trails it on average. For 5-round bouts the model splits its round-3+ finish mass into rounds 3–5 by the historical within-bucket rate, so the over-3.5 / 4.5 lines carry a model estimate.

Trait web
72.3Striking77.9
Costa +5.6
62.0Grappling46.1
Garcia +15.9
Str/minStr accStr defAbsorbedTD/15TD accTD defSubs
Hover a point to see the values
GarciaCosta
Tale of the tape
Ratings (Elo)
1546
Pound-for-pound
1532
1511
Divisional
1515
1532
Striking offense
1504
1477
Striking defense
1504
1497
Grappling offense
1496
1513
Grappling defense
1498
Physical
31 yrs
Age
27 yrs
6'0"
Height
5'10"
75"
Reach
71"
Southpaw
Stance
Southpaw
Striking (UFC career)
3.57
Strikes landed / min
5.11
57%
Strike accuracy
46%
2.28
Strikes absorbed / min
2.53
51%
Strike defense
65%
Grappling (UFC career)
1.99
Takedowns / 15 min
1.87
67%
Takedown accuracy
38%
75%
Takedown defense
43%
0.5
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.6
Form & résumé
60%
UFC win rate
50%
+2
Win/loss streak
+1
60%
Last-5 win rate
50%
100%
Finish rate
0%
Recent opp. quality
245
Days since last fight
147
Recent form (last 5 UFC)
Steve Garcia
  • WShayilan NuerdanbiekeKO/TKO R2
    Close +1508mo before
  • WChase HooperKO/TKO R1
    Close +2571y 1mo before
  • LMaheshate MaheshateKO/TKO R1
    Close -2001y 6mo before
  • WCharlie OntiverosKO/TKO R2
    Close -3312y 2mo before
  • LLuis PenaU-DEC R3
    Close +2303y 9mo before
Melquizael Costa
  • WAustin LingoU-DEC R3
    Close -2385mo before
  • LThiago MoisesSUB R2
    Close +31411mo before
Garcia — win / loss by method
Record: 14-5-0

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
11 wins, 1 loss
W
79% of wins
L
20% of losses
Submission
0 wins, 1 loss
W
0% of wins
L
20% of losses
Decision
3 wins, 3 losses
W
21% of wins
L
60% of losses
UFC
3win2loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
3 (100%)KO/TKO(50%) 1
0 (0%)Submission(0%) 0
0 (0%)Decision(50%) 1
Non-UFC
11win3loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
8 (73%)KO/TKO(0%) 0
0 (0%)Submission(33%) 1
3 (27%)Decision(67%) 2
Costa — win / loss by method
Record: 20-6-0

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
7 wins, 1 loss
W
35% of wins
L
17% of losses
Submission
6 wins, 2 losses
W
30% of wins
L
33% of losses
Decision
7 wins, 3 losses
W
35% of wins
L
50% of losses
UFC
1win1loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
0 (0%)KO/TKO(0%) 0
0 (0%)Submission(100%) 1
1 (100%)Decision(0%) 0
Non-UFC
19win5loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
7 (37%)KO/TKO(20%) 1
6 (32%)Submission(20%) 1
6 (32%)Decision(60%) 3

Profiles

Experience
Garcia
Costa
5
UFC fights
2
30.2 min · 6.0 avg
Octagon time
24.1 min · 12.0 avg
13y 3m
Career length
12y 5m
UFC schedule strength

Opponents' records on fight night — toggle their full cross-promotional record vs UFC bouts only.

Garcia
Costa
76W–22L · 77.6%
Overall
25W–8L · 75.8%
61W–19L · 76.3%
Wins
9W–2L · 81.8%
15W–3L · 83.3%
Losses
16W–6L · 72.7%
Non-UFC schedule strength
Garcia
Costa
95W–27L · 77.9%
Overall
164W–84L · 66.1%
71W–19L · 78.9%
Wins
116W–74L · 61.1%
24W–8L · 75.0%
Losses
48W–10L · 82.8%
Distance striking
Garcia
Costa
12.29
Landed / min
7.52
48.4%
Accuracy
44.9%
59.8%
Defense
68.8%
1.99
Knockdowns / 15 min
0.00
16.7%
Time at distance
62.9%
Grappling & control
Garcia
Costa
1.99
Takedowns / 15 min
1.87
66.7%
Takedown accuracy
37.5%
75.0%
Takedown defense
42.9%
0.50
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.62
29.0%
Control share
33.4%
Strike target map
Garcia
  • Head79%(85)div 63%
  • Body13%(14)div 21%
  • Legs8%(9)div 16%
Costa
  • Head33%(41)div 63%
  • Body47%(58)div 21%
  • Legs20%(24)div 16%

Where each fighter lands significant strikes (career). “div” = the weight-class average.

Steve Garcia
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.

Melquizael Costa
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.