BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Francis Ngannou vs.
Andrei Arlovski

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

12-2-0 Francis Ngannou · UFC
23-18-0 (1 NC) Andrei Arlovski · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

12-2-0
UFC record
23-18-0 (1 NC)
Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Heavyweight
39.9
AgeΔ 7.6 yrs
47.5
6'4"
HeightΔ 1"
6'3"
83"
ReachΔ 6"
77"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
54.4
Layoff (months)Δ 29.2 mo
25.2
WWWWW
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.

Francis Ngannou carries real power — 1.22 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Heavyweight norm.
Francis Ngannou is a submission threat — 0.31 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.16 Heavyweight norm.
Andrei Arlovski rarely shoots — 0.33 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.95 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.

Francis Ngannou

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

In the UFC: 8-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.3 wins over .500

Andrei Arlovski

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 2318
Tier 3 — regional circuit 106

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.69 · 23 tier-1/2 wins · 19 finish wins over 59 documented bouts

In the UFC: 15-16 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.8 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

2292.33/min · norm 3.36
Sig. strikes landed
15853.87/min · norm 3.36
2122.16/min · norm 3.19
Sig. strikes absorbed
13463.28/min · norm 3.19
41.3%norm 47.8%
Striking accuracy
45.6%norm 47.8%
41.9%norm 52.5%
Striking defense
56.8%norm 52.5%
81.22/15 · norm 0.28
Knockdowns
100.37/15 · norm 0.28

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

Francis Ngannou

Distance 79.5% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 8.6% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 11.9% (norm 9.3%)

Andrei Arlovski

Distance 90.1% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 8.0% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 1.8% (norm 9.3%)

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

Francis Ngannou

Head 82.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 11.5% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 6.5% (norm 7.6%)

Andrei Arlovski

Head 72.9% (norm 79.2%) · Body 13.7% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 13.5% (norm 7.6%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Ngannou L/AAccHeavyweight med Arlovski L/AAccHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 150 / 441 34.0% 40.1% 1352 / 3136 43.1% 40.1%
In the clinch 36 / 48 75.0% 70.6% 191 / 280 68.2% 70.6%
On the ground 43 / 66 65.2% 70.2% 42 / 63 66.7% 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 156 / 455 34.3% 38.9% 875 / 2536 34.5% 38.9%
To the body 41 / 64 64.1% 76.8% 339 / 475 71.4% 76.8%
To the legs 32 / 36 88.9% 87.8% 371 / 468 79.3% 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 Ngannou L/AOpp accHeavyweight med vs Arlovski L/AOpp accHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 168 / 306 54.9% 40.7% 995 / 2590 38.4% 40.7%
In the clinch 16 / 21 too few to rate 70.6% 191 / 284 67.3% 70.6%
On the ground 28 / 38 73.7% 72.0% 160 / 239 66.9% 72.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 92 / 210 43.8% 38.8% 853 / 2459 34.7% 38.8%
To the body 46 / 67 68.7% 75.1% 244 / 357 68.3% 75.1%
To the legs 74 / 88 84.1% 84.4% 249 / 297 83.8% 84.4%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

562.5% acc · 0.76/15 · norm 0.95
Takedowns landed
934.6% acc · 0.33/15 · norm 0.95
2871.8% def · norm 64.3%
Takedowns stopped
5677.8% def · norm 64.3%
11:4311.9% of cage time · norm 17.2%
Control time
32:067.8% of cage time · norm 17.2%
24:363:45 per 15 · norm 2:28
Time under control
67:492:28 per 15 · norm 2:28
20.31/15 · norm 0.16
Submission attempts
50.18/15 · norm 0.16

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.