BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Aalon Cruz vs.
Spike Carlyle

Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.

0-2-0 Aalon Cruz · UFC
1-2-0 Spike Carlyle · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.

0-2-0
UFC record
1-2-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
36.9
AgeΔ 3.6 yrs
33.3
6'0"
HeightΔ 4"
5'8"
78"
ReachΔ 7"
71"
Switch
Stance
Switch
65
Layoff (months)Δ 3.2 mo
68.2
LL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLW
The read

What the numbers say.

Scouting notes, auto-generated — only stats deviating more than 25% from the division median make this list. No narratives, just deviations.

Aalon Cruz absorbs 21.08 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.37 Lightweight norm — hittable.
Spike Carlyle hunts takedowns — 3.34 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.19 Featherweight norm.
Spike Carlyle owns the mat — in control 43% of cage time, vs a 17% Featherweight norm.
Level of competition

Who did they actually beat?

Full-career records re-graded by the tier of opposition — the same grading the Contender Series pick model uses. Records built on tier-4 competition are worth less than records built on killers.

Aalon Cruz

Full career not yet synced for Aalon Cruz — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 0-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.0 wins over .500

Spike Carlyle

Full career not yet synced for Spike Carlyle — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.0 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

20.65/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
802.55/min · norm 3.54
6521.08/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
1213.85/min · norm 3.47
13.3%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
54.1%norm 45.0%
29.3%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
30.1%norm 54.85%
00.00/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.29

Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)

Aalon Cruz

Distance 100.0% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 0.0% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 0.0% (norm 8.0%)

Spike Carlyle

Distance 45.3% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 8.1% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 46.6% (norm 6.5%)

What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)

Aalon Cruz

Head 40.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 33.3% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 26.7% (norm 7.9%)

Spike Carlyle

Head 85.8% (norm 77.4%) · Body 7.4% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 6.8% (norm 7.8%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.

Zone Cruz L/AAccLightweight med Carlyle L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 2 / 15 too few to rate 37.9% 33 / 67 49.3% 40.9%
In the clinch 0 / 0 too few to rate 67.3% 9 / 12 too few to rate 70.8%
On the ground 0 / 0 too few to rate 69.1% 38 / 69 55.1% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 2 / 6 too few to rate 35.0% 67 / 127 52.8% 37.2%
To the body 0 / 5 too few to rate 69.1% 5 / 11 too few to rate 68.2%
To the legs 0 / 4 too few to rate 81.9% 8 / 10 too few to rate 80.7%

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 (Lightweight: 201 fighters · Featherweight: 126 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 Cruz L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Carlyle L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 9 / 14 too few to rate 38.9% 56 / 98 57.1% 39.2%
In the clinch 7 / 8 too few to rate 68.6% 19 / 20 too few to rate 70.3%
On the ground 49 / 70 70.0% 68.0% 46 / 55 83.6% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 62 / 88 70.5% 35.1% 88 / 126 69.8% 35.9%
To the body 1 / 2 too few to rate 68.1% 24 / 33 72.7% 67.9%
To the legs 2 / 2 too few to rate 81.5% 9 / 14 too few to rate 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.

00.0% acc · 0.00/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
736.8% acc · 3.34/15 · norm 1.19
0— def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
457.1% def · norm 61.5%
0:168.6% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
13:2642.8% of cage time · norm 16.7%
1:035:06 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
9:054:20 per 15 · norm 3:12
00.00/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
10.48/15 · norm 0.46

Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Carlyle has more cage time on record.

Next move

Let the engine settle it.