BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Curtis Blaydes vs.
Junior Dos Santos

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

14-6-0 (1 NC) Curtis Blaydes · UFC
15-8-0 Junior Dos Santos · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

14-6-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
15-8-0
Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Heavyweight
35.5
AgeΔ 7 yrs
42.5
6'4"
HeightΔ 0"
6'4"
80"
ReachΔ 3"
77"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
3.8
Layoff (months)Δ 64 mo
67.8
LWLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLLW
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.

Curtis Blaydes hunts takedowns — 5.12 per 15 minutes, vs a 0.95 Heavyweight norm.
Junior Dos Santos carries real power — 0.85 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Heavyweight norm.
Curtis Blaydes owns the mat — in control 45% of cage time, vs a 17% Heavyweight 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.

Curtis Blaydes

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 146
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 10
Tier 3 — regional circuit 40

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.44 · 15 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 26 documented bouts

In the UFC: 11-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.6 wins over .500

Junior Dos Santos

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

In the UFC: 11-8 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.9 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

8094.18/min · norm 3.36
Sig. strikes landed
11094.49/min · norm 3.36
5342.76/min · norm 3.19
Sig. strikes absorbed
8233.33/min · norm 3.19
52.1%norm 47.8%
Striking accuracy
47.9%norm 47.8%
53.9%norm 52.5%
Striking defense
56.2%norm 52.5%
20.16/15 · norm 0.28
Knockdowns
140.85/15 · norm 0.28

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

Curtis Blaydes

Distance 69.1% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 11.4% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 19.5% (norm 9.3%)

Junior Dos Santos

Distance 87.9% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 7.0% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 5.1% (norm 9.3%)

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

Curtis Blaydes

Head 83.7% (norm 79.2%) · Body 6.6% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 9.7% (norm 7.6%)

Junior Dos Santos

Head 73.2% (norm 79.2%) · Body 24.2% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 2.6% (norm 7.6%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Blaydes L/AAccHeavyweight med Santos L/AAccHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 421 / 1073 39.2% 40.1% 942 / 2032 46.4% 40.1%
In the clinch 145 / 177 81.9% 70.6% 94 / 162 58.0% 70.6%
On the ground 243 / 302 80.5% 70.2% 73 / 119 61.3% 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 585 / 1299 45.0% 38.9% 682 / 1693 40.3% 38.9%
To the body 89 / 103 86.4% 76.8% 378 / 560 67.5% 76.8%
To the legs 135 / 150 90.0% 87.8% 49 / 60 81.7% 87.8%

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 (Heavyweight: 93 fighters · Heavyweight: 93 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 Blaydes L/AOpp accHeavyweight med vs Santos L/AOpp accHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 427 / 1021 41.8% 40.7% 583 / 1530 38.1% 40.7%
In the clinch 82 / 108 75.9% 70.6% 159 / 236 67.4% 70.6%
On the ground 25 / 30 83.3% 72.0% 81 / 114 71.1% 72.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 440 / 1037 42.4% 38.8% 552 / 1544 35.8% 38.8%
To the body 64 / 87 73.6% 75.1% 105 / 141 74.5% 75.1%
To the legs 30 / 35 85.7% 84.4% 166 / 195 85.1% 84.4%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

6647.8% acc · 5.12/15 · norm 0.95
Takedowns landed
550.0% acc · 0.30/15 · norm 0.95
735.0% def · norm 64.3%
Takedowns stopped
7281.8% def · norm 64.3%
87:4245.3% of cage time · norm 17.2%
Control time
7:363.1% of cage time · norm 17.2%
8:550:41 per 15 · norm 2:28
Time under control
39:482:25 per 15 · norm 2:28
00.00/15 · norm 0.16
Submission attempts
10.06/15 · norm 0.16

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.