BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Cristiano Marcello vs.
Sam Sicilia

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 Cristiano Marcello · UFC
5-7-0 Sam Sicilia · 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
5-7-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
48.7
AgeΔ 8.2 yrs
40.5
5'9"
HeightΔ 1"
5'8"
72"
ReachΔ 5"
67"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
149.6
Layoff (months)Δ 36.1 mo
113.5
LLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWW
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.

Sam Sicilia is a submission threat — 0.87 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.46 Featherweight norm.
Cristiano Marcello's takedown defense leaks — 17% stopped, vs a 64% Lightweight norm.
Cristiano Marcello rarely shoots — 0.57 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 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.

Cristiano Marcello

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

In the UFC: 1-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.2 wins over .500

Sam Sicilia

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

In the UFC: 1-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.4 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

1703.21/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
2552.46/min · norm 3.54
2103.97/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
3683.55/min · norm 3.47
33.5%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
33.5%norm 45.0%
57.6%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
59.2%norm 54.85%
00.00/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
10.14/15 · norm 0.29

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

Cristiano Marcello

Distance 92.3% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 6.7% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 1.0% (norm 8.0%)

Sam Sicilia

Distance 82.3% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 7.4% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 10.4% (norm 6.5%)

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

Cristiano Marcello

Head 80.3% (norm 78.2%) · Body 12.6% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 7.1% (norm 7.9%)

Sam Sicilia

Head 84.2% (norm 77.4%) · Body 10.6% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 5.1% (norm 7.8%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Marcello L/AAccLightweight med Sicilia L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 151 / 468 32.3% 37.9% 168 / 626 26.8% 40.9%
In the clinch 17 / 34 50.0% 67.3% 32 / 56 57.1% 70.8%
On the ground 2 / 5 too few to rate 69.1% 55 / 79 69.6% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 117 / 407 28.7% 35.0% 175 / 641 27.3% 37.2%
To the body 32 / 64 50.0% 69.1% 50 / 81 61.7% 68.2%
To the legs 21 / 36 58.3% 81.9% 30 / 39 76.9% 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 (Lightweight: 201 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 Marcello L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Sicilia L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 164 / 415 39.5% 38.9% 318 / 832 38.2% 39.2%
In the clinch 30 / 44 68.2% 68.6% 25 / 41 61.0% 70.3%
On the ground 16 / 36 44.4% 68.0% 25 / 30 83.3% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 168 / 437 38.4% 35.1% 237 / 699 33.9% 35.9%
To the body 29 / 37 78.4% 68.1% 61 / 117 52.1% 67.9%
To the legs 13 / 21 too few to rate 81.5% 70 / 87 80.5% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

211.8% acc · 0.57/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
1043.5% acc · 1.45/15 · norm 1.19
116.7% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
1470.0% def · norm 61.5%
4:248.3% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
24:2923.6% of cage time · norm 16.7%
11:423:19 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
8:421:15 per 15 · norm 3:12
10.28/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
60.87/15 · norm 0.46

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.