BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Conor McGregor vs.
Dustin Poirier

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

10-5-0 Conor McGregor · UFC
22-9-0 (1 NC) Dustin Poirier · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

10-5-0
UFC record
22-9-0 (1 NC)
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
38.1
AgeΔ 0.6 yrs
37.5
5'9"
HeightΔ 0"
5'9"
74"
ReachΔ 2"
72"
Southpaw
Stance
Southpaw
0.9
Layoff (months)Δ 11.7 mo
12.6
LLLWL
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.

Conor McGregor carries real power — 1.72 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.29 Featherweight norm.
Dustin Poirier carries real power — 0.65 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.25 Lightweight norm.
Dustin Poirier is a submission threat — 1.08 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.49 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.

Conor McGregor

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 105
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 41
Tier 3 — regional circuit 81

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.31 · 14 tier-1/2 wins · 20 finish wins over 29 documented bouts

In the UFC: 10-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +7.1 wins over .500

Dustin Poirier

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 229
Tier 3 — regional circuit 81

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.44 · 22 tier-1/2 wins · 23 finish wins over 41 documented bouts

In the UFC: 15-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.0 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

5995.27/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
18615.34/min · norm 3.42
5364.71/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
16274.67/min · norm 3.37
49.5%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
50.0%norm 43.5%
53.9%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
52.3%norm 56.3%
131.72/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
150.65/15 · norm 0.25

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

Conor McGregor

Distance 84.5% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 6.2% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 9.3% (norm 6.5%)

Dustin Poirier

Distance 81.8% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 11.3% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 7.0% (norm 8.0%)

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

Conor McGregor

Head 78.8% (norm 77.4%) · Body 13.1% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 8.2% (norm 7.8%)

Dustin Poirier

Head 87.2% (norm 78.2%) · Body 6.7% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 6.2% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone McGregor L/AAccFeatherweight med Poirier L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 461 / 1022 45.1% 40.9% 1415 / 3044 46.5% 37.9%
In the clinch 61 / 75 81.3% 70.8% 280 / 419 66.8% 67.3%
On the ground 77 / 113 68.1% 69.2% 166 / 259 64.1% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 419 / 953 44.0% 37.2% 1490 / 3244 45.9% 35.0%
To the body 102 / 158 64.6% 68.2% 182 / 249 73.1% 69.1%
To the legs 78 / 99 78.8% 80.7% 189 / 229 82.5% 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 (Featherweight: 126 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 McGregor L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Poirier L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 336 / 864 38.9% 39.2% 1285 / 2951 43.5% 38.9%
In the clinch 96 / 142 67.6% 70.3% 197 / 277 71.1% 68.6%
On the ground 104 / 156 66.7% 69.4% 145 / 184 78.8% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 372 / 913 40.7% 35.9% 1048 / 2658 39.4% 35.1%
To the body 88 / 136 64.7% 67.9% 364 / 491 74.1% 68.1%
To the legs 76 / 113 67.3% 81.5% 215 / 263 81.7% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

555.6% acc · 0.66/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
2835.9% acc · 1.21/15 · norm 1.38
2266.7% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
5863.0% def · norm 64.0%
13:5112.2% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
70:0220.1% of cage time · norm 19.5%
31:344:09 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
70:423:02 per 15 · norm 2:46
10.13/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
251.08/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.