BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Damon Jackson vs.
Ilia Topuria

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

6-6-1 (1 NC) Damon Jackson · UFC
9-1-0 Ilia Topuria · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

6-6-1 (1 NC)
UFC record
9-1-0
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
37
AgeΔ 8 yrs
29
5'11"
HeightΔ 4"
5'7"
71"
ReachΔ 2"
69"
Switch
Stance
Orthodox
20.6
Layoff (months)Δ 18.9 mo
1.7
LLWLL
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.

Ilia Topuria carries real power — 1.15 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.29 Featherweight norm.
Damon Jackson is a submission threat — 1.20 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.46 Featherweight norm.
Damon Jackson owns the mat — in control 41% of cage time, vs a 17% 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.

Damon Jackson

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 87
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 111
Tier 3 — regional circuit 41

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.14 · 19 tier-1/2 wins · 19 finish wins over 34 documented bouts

In the UFC: 3-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.8 wins over .500

Ilia Topuria

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 91
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 20
Tier 3 — regional circuit 60

Tier-weighted record quality: 2.06 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 18 documented bouts

In the UFC: 7-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +6.2 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4062.96/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
5024.82/min · norm 3.54
4763.47/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
4143.97/min · norm 3.47
42.9%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
50.1%norm 45.0%
49.1%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
62.1%norm 54.85%
00.00/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
81.15/15 · norm 0.29

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

Damon Jackson

Distance 77.3% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 13.9% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 8.8% (norm 6.5%)

Ilia Topuria

Distance 84.3% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 4.5% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 11.2% (norm 6.5%)

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

Damon Jackson

Head 77.0% (norm 77.4%) · Body 18.9% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 4.1% (norm 7.8%)

Ilia Topuria

Head 78.3% (norm 77.4%) · Body 15.1% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 6.6% (norm 7.8%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Jackson L/AAccFeatherweight med Topuria L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 261 / 732 35.7% 40.9% 387 / 845 45.8% 40.9%
In the clinch 93 / 132 70.5% 70.8% 34 / 45 75.6% 70.8%
On the ground 52 / 83 62.7% 69.2% 81 / 112 72.3% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 247 / 729 33.9% 37.2% 343 / 785 43.7% 37.2%
To the body 123 / 179 68.7% 68.2% 106 / 151 70.2% 68.2%
To the legs 36 / 39 92.3% 80.7% 53 / 66 80.3% 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 Jackson L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Topuria L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 276 / 682 40.5% 39.2% 383 / 1046 36.6% 39.2%
In the clinch 134 / 172 77.9% 70.3% 24 / 34 70.6% 70.3%
On the ground 66 / 82 80.5% 69.4% 7 / 11 too few to rate 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 272 / 687 39.6% 35.9% 257 / 841 30.6% 35.9%
To the body 157 / 196 80.1% 67.9% 85 / 167 50.9% 67.9%
To the legs 47 / 53 88.7% 81.5% 72 / 83 86.7% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

2132.8% acc · 2.30/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
1257.1% acc · 1.73/15 · norm 1.19
1137.9% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
2095.2% def · norm 61.5%
56:4141.3% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
21:2020.5% of cage time · norm 16.7%
29:233:12 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
6:330:56 per 15 · norm 3:12
111.20/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
60.86/15 · norm 0.46

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.