BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Anton Kuivanen vs.
Justin Salas

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

1-2-0 Anton Kuivanen · UFC
3-4-0 Justin Salas · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

1-2-0
UFC record
3-4-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
42
AgeΔ 2 yrs
44
5'8"
HeightΔ 0"
5'8"
72"
ReachΔ 2"
70"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
161.4
Layoff (months)Δ 36.4 mo
125
LWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWLW
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.

Justin Salas's takedown defense leaks — 0% stopped, vs a 64% Lightweight norm.
Justin Salas hunts takedowns — 2.43 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Anton Kuivanen is hard to hit — absorbs 1.63 sig. strikes per minute, vs a 3.37 Lightweight 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.

Anton Kuivanen

Full career not yet synced for Anton Kuivanen — 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

Justin Salas

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

In the UFC: 0-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.1 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

852.27/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
1693.42/min · norm 3.42
611.63/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
1462.96/min · norm 3.37
38.1%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
43.2%norm 43.5%
67.0%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
68.9%norm 56.3%
00.00/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
10.30/15 · norm 0.25

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

Anton Kuivanen

Distance 80.7% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 9.4% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 9.9% (norm 8.0%)

Justin Salas

Distance 81.6% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 11.8% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 6.6% (norm 8.0%)

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

Anton Kuivanen

Head 78.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 19.7% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 2.2% (norm 7.9%)

Justin Salas

Head 74.2% (norm 78.2%) · Body 12.3% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 13.6% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Kuivanen L/AAccLightweight med Salas L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 52 / 180 28.9% 37.9% 113 / 319 35.4% 37.9%
In the clinch 17 / 21 too few to rate 67.3% 35 / 46 76.1% 67.3%
On the ground 16 / 22 too few to rate 69.1% 21 / 26 80.8% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 51 / 174 29.3% 35.0% 97 / 290 33.4% 35.0%
To the body 30 / 44 68.2% 69.1% 34 / 48 70.8% 69.1%
To the legs 4 / 5 too few to rate 81.9% 38 / 53 71.7% 81.9%

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 · Lightweight: 201 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 Kuivanen L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Salas L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 40 / 154 26.0% 38.9% 86 / 382 22.5% 38.9%
In the clinch 11 / 16 too few to rate 68.6% 25 / 35 71.4% 68.6%
On the ground 10 / 15 too few to rate 68.0% 35 / 53 66.0% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 33 / 148 22.3% 35.1% 97 / 375 25.9% 35.1%
To the body 15 / 20 too few to rate 68.1% 35 / 72 48.6% 68.1%
To the legs 13 / 17 too few to rate 81.5% 14 / 23 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.

3100.0% acc · 1.20/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
820.5% acc · 2.43/15 · norm 1.38
2071.4% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
00.0% def · norm 64.0%
8:1622.1% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
7:0014.2% of cage time · norm 19.5%
10:484:19 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
4:061:14 per 15 · norm 2:46
10.40/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.