BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Conor McGregor vs.
Jose Aldo

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
14-9-0 Jose Aldo · 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
14-9-0
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
38.1
AgeΔ 1.8 yrs
39.9
5'9"
HeightΔ 2"
5'7"
74"
ReachΔ 4"
70"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
0.9
Layoff (months)Δ 14 mo
14.9
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.
Jose Aldo rarely shoots — 0.51 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.19 Featherweight norm.
Conor McGregor outworks the Featherweight division — 5.27 sig. strikes landed per minute, vs a 3.54 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

Jose Aldo

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

In the UFC: 14-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.5 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
13543.57/min · norm 3.54
5364.71/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
16004.21/min · norm 3.47
49.5%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
45.3%norm 45.0%
53.9%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
58.4%norm 54.85%
131.72/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
70.28/15 · norm 0.29

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%)

Jose Aldo

Distance 93.6% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 2.3% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 4.0% (norm 6.5%)

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%)

Jose Aldo

Head 79.8% (norm 77.4%) · Body 13.9% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 6.2% (norm 7.8%)

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 Aldo L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 461 / 1022 45.1% 40.9% 1220 / 2802 43.5% 40.9%
In the clinch 61 / 75 81.3% 70.8% 56 / 69 81.2% 70.8%
On the ground 77 / 113 68.1% 69.2% 78 / 121 64.5% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 419 / 953 44.0% 37.2% 913 / 2389 38.2% 37.2%
To the body 102 / 158 64.6% 68.2% 280 / 416 67.3% 68.2%
To the legs 78 / 99 78.8% 80.7% 161 / 187 86.1% 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 McGregor L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Aldo L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 336 / 864 38.9% 39.2% 1242 / 3376 36.8% 39.2%
In the clinch 96 / 142 67.6% 70.3% 153 / 189 81.0% 70.3%
On the ground 104 / 156 66.7% 69.4% 205 / 277 74.0% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 372 / 913 40.7% 35.9% 991 / 2993 33.1% 35.9%
To the body 88 / 136 64.7% 67.9% 289 / 433 66.7% 67.9%
To the legs 76 / 113 67.3% 81.5% 320 / 416 76.9% 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
1350.0% acc · 0.51/15 · norm 1.19
2266.7% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
9891.6% def · norm 61.5%
13:5112.2% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
44:0611.6% of cage time · norm 16.7%
31:344:09 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
52:302:04 per 15 · norm 3:12
10.13/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
40.16/15 · norm 0.46

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.