BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Gil Castillo vs.
Matt Hughes

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

1-2-0 Gil Castillo · UFC
18-7-0 Matt Hughes · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

1-2-0
UFC record
18-7-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
60
AgeΔ 8 yrs
52
5'9"
HeightΔ 0"
5'9"
Reach
73"
Southpaw
Stance
Switch
284.4
Layoff (months)Δ 106 mo
178.4
LWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWWW
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.

Matt Hughes owns the mat — in control 57% of cage time, vs a 18% Welterweight norm.
Gil Castillo owns the mat — in control 55% of cage time, vs a 18% Welterweight norm.
Gil Castillo hunts takedowns — 3.33 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight 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.

Gil Castillo

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

In the UFC: 0-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.7 wins over .500

Matt Hughes

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

In the UFC: 10-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.1 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

270.60/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
5312.38/min · norm 3.17
1002.22/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
2861.28/min · norm 3.06
45.0%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
55.0%norm 44.9%
44.4%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
54.5%norm 55.25%
00.00/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
30.20/15 · norm 0.38

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

Gil Castillo

Distance 53.3% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 3.3% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 43.3% (norm 8.1%)

Matt Hughes

Distance 44.0% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 6.3% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 49.6% (norm 8.1%)

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

Gil Castillo

Head 90.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 6.7% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 3.3% (norm 8.4%)

Matt Hughes

Head 81.3% (norm 78.2%) · Body 13.0% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 5.7% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Castillo L/AAccWelterweight med Hughes L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 13 / 32 40.6% 38.6% 153 / 425 36.0% 38.6%
In the clinch 2 / 2 too few to rate 67.8% 46 / 61 75.4% 67.8%
On the ground 12 / 26 46.2% 67.2% 332 / 479 69.3% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 22 / 54 40.7% 37.2% 364 / 785 46.4% 37.2%
To the body 3 / 4 too few to rate 70.7% 117 / 125 93.6% 70.7%
To the legs 2 / 2 too few to rate 82.9% 50 / 55 90.9% 82.9%

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 (Welterweight: 182 fighters · Welterweight: 182 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 Castillo L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Hughes L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 31 / 84 36.9% 39.0% 138 / 430 32.1% 39.0%
In the clinch 34 / 47 72.3% 68.9% 49 / 62 79.0% 68.9%
On the ground 35 / 49 71.4% 68.0% 99 / 136 72.8% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 54 / 124 43.5% 35.6% 196 / 503 39.0% 35.6%
To the body 26 / 29 89.7% 69.6% 63 / 87 72.4% 69.6%
To the legs 20 / 27 74.1% 82.1% 27 / 38 71.1% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

1045.5% acc · 3.33/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
4751.1% acc · 3.16/15 · norm 1.27
250.0% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
635.3% def · norm 63.9%
24:4154.9% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
117:5156.6% of cage time · norm 18.5%
12:074:02 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
29:371:59 per 15 · norm 3:15
00.00/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
161.08/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.