BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Aaron Phillips vs.
Sam Sicilia

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

0-4-0 Aaron Phillips · UFC
5-7-0 Sam Sicilia · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

0-4-0
UFC record
5-7-0
Bantamweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
37
AgeΔ 3.5 yrs
40.5
5'9"
HeightΔ 1"
5'8"
71"
ReachΔ 4"
67"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
39.7
Layoff (months)Δ 73.8 mo
113.5
LLLL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWW
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.

Aaron Phillips is a submission threat — 0.57 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Bantamweight norm.
Sam Sicilia is a submission threat — 0.87 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.46 Featherweight norm.
Opponents land 52% of their head shots on Aaron Phillips, vs a 35% Bantamweight norm — a hole in the guard.
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.

Aaron Phillips

Full career not yet synced for Aaron Phillips — 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 -0.2 wins over .500

Sam Sicilia

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

In the UFC: 1-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.4 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

791.51/min · norm 3.52
Sig. strikes landed
2552.46/min · norm 3.54
1923.66/min · norm 3.58
Sig. strikes absorbed
3683.55/min · norm 3.47
53.4%norm 43.4%
Striking accuracy
33.5%norm 45.0%
43.5%norm 56.6%
Striking defense
59.2%norm 54.85%
00.00/15 · norm 0.30
Knockdowns
10.14/15 · norm 0.29

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

Aaron Phillips

Distance 68.9% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 18.2% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 12.8% (norm 6.5%)

Sam Sicilia

Distance 82.3% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 7.4% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 10.4% (norm 6.5%)

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

Aaron Phillips

Head 62.8% (norm 77.4%) · Body 30.4% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 6.8% (norm 8.4%)

Sam Sicilia

Head 84.2% (norm 77.4%) · Body 10.6% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 5.1% (norm 7.8%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Phillips L/AAccBantamweight med Sicilia L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 44 / 102 43.1% 39.0% 168 / 626 26.8% 40.9%
In the clinch 22 / 27 81.5% 68.7% 32 / 56 57.1% 70.8%
On the ground 13 / 19 too few to rate 70.2% 55 / 79 69.6% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 36 / 93 38.7% 34.9% 175 / 641 27.3% 37.2%
To the body 38 / 45 84.4% 66.8% 50 / 81 61.7% 68.2%
To the legs 5 / 10 too few to rate 79.4% 30 / 39 76.9% 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 (Bantamweight: 117 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 Phillips L/AOpp accBantamweight med vs Sicilia L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 68 / 153 44.4% 39.3% 318 / 832 38.2% 39.2%
In the clinch 31 / 40 77.5% 70.4% 25 / 41 61.0% 70.3%
On the ground 93 / 147 63.3% 72.4% 25 / 30 83.3% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 130 / 252 51.6% 34.9% 237 / 699 33.9% 35.9%
To the body 28 / 44 63.6% 66.0% 61 / 117 52.1% 67.9%
To the legs 34 / 44 77.3% 79.1% 70 / 87 80.5% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

350.0% acc · 0.86/15 · norm 1.12
Takedowns landed
1043.5% acc · 1.45/15 · norm 1.19
1144.0% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
1470.0% def · norm 61.5%
7:1413.8% of cage time · norm 17.4%
Control time
24:2923.6% of cage time · norm 16.7%
30:078:36 per 15 · norm 2:24
Time under control
8:421:15 per 15 · norm 3:12
20.57/15 · norm 0.28
Submission attempts
60.87/15 · norm 0.46

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.