BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Austin Lingo vs.
Melquizael Costa

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

2-3-0 Austin Lingo · UFC
7-3-0 Melquizael Costa · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

2-3-0
UFC record
7-3-0
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
32.1
AgeΔ 2.2 yrs
29.9
5'10"
HeightΔ 0"
5'10"
70"
ReachΔ 1"
71"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
36.7
Layoff (months)Δ 34 mo
2.7
LLWWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LWWWW
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.

Melquizael Costa is a submission threat — 0.84 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.46 Featherweight norm.
Austin Lingo rarely shoots — 0.43 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.19 Featherweight norm.
Austin Lingo carries real power — 0.43 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.29 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.

Austin Lingo

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

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

Melquizael Costa

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 73
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 11
Tier 3 — regional circuit 184

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.98 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 17 finish wins over 34 documented bouts

In the UFC: 6-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.1 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

2673.86/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
4624.29/min · norm 3.54
3364.86/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
3433.19/min · norm 3.47
37.7%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
47.0%norm 45.0%
57.4%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
50.4%norm 54.85%
20.43/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
20.28/15 · norm 0.29

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

Austin Lingo

Distance 98.3% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 1.6% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 0.1% (norm 6.5%)

Melquizael Costa

Distance 87.9% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 6.6% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 5.5% (norm 6.5%)

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

Austin Lingo

Head 82.7% (norm 77.4%) · Body 13.7% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 3.7% (norm 7.8%)

Melquizael Costa

Head 64.7% (norm 77.4%) · Body 21.9% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 13.4% (norm 7.8%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Lingo L/AAccFeatherweight med Costa L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 264 / 697 37.9% 40.9% 382 / 864 44.2% 40.9%
In the clinch 3 / 11 too few to rate 70.8% 42 / 65 64.6% 70.8%
On the ground 0 / 1 too few to rate 69.2% 38 / 54 70.4% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 183 / 586 31.2% 37.2% 216 / 636 34.0% 37.2%
To the body 66 / 97 68.0% 68.2% 138 / 215 64.2% 68.2%
To the legs 18 / 26 69.2% 80.7% 108 / 132 81.8% 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 (Featherweight: 126 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 Lingo L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Costa L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 317 / 756 41.9% 39.2% 237 / 549 43.2% 39.2%
In the clinch 13 / 22 too few to rate 70.3% 45 / 66 68.2% 70.3%
On the ground 6 / 11 too few to rate 69.4% 61 / 76 80.3% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 172 / 557 30.9% 35.9% 233 / 560 41.6% 35.9%
To the body 97 / 157 61.8% 67.9% 73 / 90 81.1% 67.9%
To the legs 67 / 75 89.3% 81.5% 37 / 41 90.2% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

266.7% acc · 0.43/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
1135.5% acc · 1.53/15 · norm 1.19
3475.6% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
2750.9% def · norm 61.5%
6:469.8% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
18:0216.8% of cage time · norm 16.7%
11:142:26 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
34:284:48 per 15 · norm 3:12
00.00/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
60.84/15 · norm 0.46

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.