BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

AJ Dobson vs.
Jacob Malkoun

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

1-3-0 AJ Dobson · UFC
6-3-0 Jacob Malkoun · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

1-3-0
UFC record
6-3-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
34.5
AgeΔ 3.6 yrs
30.9
6'1"
HeightΔ 4"
5'9"
76"
ReachΔ 3"
73"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
28.4
Layoff (months)Δ 25.3 mo
3.1
LWLL
Last 5 (newest first)
WWWLW
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.

Jacob Malkoun hunts takedowns — 5.39 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight norm.
Jacob Malkoun owns the mat — in control 47% of cage time, vs a 20% Middleweight norm.
AJ Dobson absorbs 5.61 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.20 Middleweight norm — hittable.
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.

AJ Dobson

Full career not yet synced for AJ Dobson — 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

Jacob Malkoun

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 63
Tier 3 — regional circuit 40

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.24 · 6 tier-1/2 wins · 3 finish wins over 13 documented bouts

In the UFC: 4-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.9 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

1923.87/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
4244.23/min · norm 3.25
2785.61/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
2332.33/min · norm 3.20
44.5%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
56.8%norm 47.4%
46.1%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
55.4%norm 53.8%
00.00/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
10.15/15 · norm 0.32

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

AJ Dobson

Distance 90.3% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 6.7% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 3.0% (norm 10.3%)

Jacob Malkoun

Distance 74.3% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 4.2% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 21.6% (norm 10.3%)

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

AJ Dobson

Head 75.6% (norm 78.0%) · Body 9.3% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 15.1% (norm 8.4%)

Jacob Malkoun

Head 94.8% (norm 78.0%) · Body 4.7% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 0.5% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Dobson L/AAccMiddleweight med Malkoun L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 167 / 389 42.9% 40.5% 292 / 554 52.7% 40.5%
In the clinch 18 / 29 62.1% 70.3% 16 / 31 51.6% 70.3%
On the ground 7 / 13 too few to rate 69.1% 116 / 161 72.0% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 105 / 326 32.2% 38.9% 390 / 707 55.2% 38.9%
To the body 29 / 40 72.5% 71.7% 30 / 35 85.7% 71.7%
To the legs 58 / 65 89.2% 83.3% 4 / 4 too few to rate 83.3%

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 (Middleweight: 174 fighters · Middleweight: 174 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 Dobson L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Malkoun L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 200 / 406 49.3% 39.5% 194 / 473 41.0% 39.5%
In the clinch 21 / 30 70.0% 70.9% 13 / 21 too few to rate 70.9%
On the ground 57 / 80 71.2% 69.0% 26 / 29 89.7% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 131 / 350 37.4% 37.9% 179 / 457 39.2% 37.9%
To the body 58 / 66 87.9% 71.3% 31 / 40 77.5% 71.3%
To the legs 89 / 100 89.0% 82.1% 23 / 26 88.5% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

583.3% acc · 1.51/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
3642.9% acc · 5.39/15 · norm 1.42
1365.0% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
555.6% def · norm 63.1%
7:0414.3% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
47:2847.4% of cage time · norm 19.75%
10:063:03 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
9:201:23 per 15 · norm 3:00
00.00/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
50.75/15 · norm 0.47

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.