BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Grant Dawson vs.
Jared Gordon

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

12-2-1 Grant Dawson · UFC
9-8-0 (1 NC) Jared Gordon · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

12-2-1
UFC record
9-8-0 (1 NC)
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
32
AgeΔ 5 yrs
37
5'10"
HeightΔ 1"
5'9"
72"
ReachΔ 4"
68"
Switch
Stance
Orthodox
3
Layoff (months)Δ 0 mo
3
WLWWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWLW
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.

Grant Dawson owns the mat — in control 65% of cage time, vs a 20% Lightweight norm.
Grant Dawson hunts takedowns — 3.62 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Jared Gordon owns the mat — in control 34% of cage time, vs a 20% 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.

Grant Dawson

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 132
Tier 3 — regional circuit 101

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.65 · 13 tier-1/2 wins · 18 finish wins over 27 documented bouts

In the UFC: 10-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.4 wins over .500

Jared Gordon

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 98
Tier 3 — regional circuit 121

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.83 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 10 finish wins over 31 documented bouts

In the UFC: 5-8 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.4 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

5283.11/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
10505.57/min · norm 3.42
3742.20/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
7754.11/min · norm 3.37
51.2%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
53.7%norm 43.5%
44.8%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
55.5%norm 56.3%
10.09/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
20.16/15 · norm 0.25

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

Grant Dawson

Distance 64.1% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 6.3% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 29.6% (norm 8.0%)

Jared Gordon

Distance 78.7% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 8.6% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 12.7% (norm 8.0%)

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

Grant Dawson

Head 77.2% (norm 78.2%) · Body 15.2% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 7.6% (norm 7.9%)

Jared Gordon

Head 81.6% (norm 78.2%) · Body 12.5% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 5.9% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Dawson L/AAccLightweight med Gordon L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 265 / 662 40.0% 37.9% 737 / 1538 47.9% 37.9%
In the clinch 52 / 65 80.0% 67.3% 127 / 168 75.6% 67.3%
On the ground 211 / 305 69.2% 69.1% 186 / 248 75.0% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 362 / 797 45.4% 35.0% 778 / 1594 48.8% 35.0%
To the body 100 / 157 63.7% 69.1% 173 / 245 70.6% 69.1%
To the legs 66 / 78 84.6% 81.9% 99 / 115 86.1% 81.9%

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 (Lightweight: 201 fighters · Lightweight: 201 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 Dawson L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Gordon L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 272 / 549 49.5% 38.9% 618 / 1548 39.9% 38.9%
In the clinch 44 / 50 88.0% 68.6% 99 / 128 77.3% 68.6%
On the ground 58 / 79 73.4% 68.0% 58 / 65 89.2% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 247 / 509 48.5% 35.1% 533 / 1430 37.3% 35.1%
To the body 85 / 119 71.4% 68.1% 159 / 219 72.6% 68.1%
To the legs 42 / 50 84.0% 81.5% 83 / 92 90.2% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

4139.0% acc · 3.62/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
2434.8% acc · 1.91/15 · norm 1.38
770.0% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
2660.5% def · norm 64.0%
110:2665.1% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
63:4233.8% of cage time · norm 19.5%
12:051:04 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
22:301:47 per 15 · norm 2:46
141.24/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.