BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Ion Cutelaba vs.
Jared Cannonier

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

9-11-1 Ion Cutelaba · UFC
11-10-0 Jared Cannonier · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

9-11-1
UFC record
11-10-0
Light Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
32.6
AgeΔ 9.8 yrs
42.4
6'1"
HeightΔ 2"
5'11"
75"
ReachΔ 2"
77"
Southpaw
Stance
Switch
1.5
Layoff (months)Δ 0.9 mo
0.6
LWLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWLL
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.

Ion Cutelaba hunts takedowns — 4.02 per 15 minutes, vs a 0.87 Light Heavyweight norm.
Jared Cannonier rarely shoots — 0.77 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight norm.
Ion Cutelaba owns the mat — in control 23% of cage time, vs a 16% Light 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.

Ion Cutelaba

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 911
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 01
Tier 3 — regional circuit 110

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.77 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 17 finish wins over 34 documented bouts

In the UFC: 5-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.5 wins over .500

Jared Cannonier

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1110
Tier 3 — regional circuit 70

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.07 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 28 documented bouts

In the UFC: 8-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.3 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

6944.13/min · norm 3.41
Sig. strikes landed
12454.25/min · norm 3.25
5753.42/min · norm 3.35
Sig. strikes absorbed
12774.36/min · norm 3.20
43.6%norm 48.3%
Striking accuracy
49.4%norm 47.4%
46.1%norm 52.9%
Striking defense
55.9%norm 53.8%
20.18/15 · norm 0.40
Knockdowns
70.36/15 · norm 0.32

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

Ion Cutelaba

Distance 76.0% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 12.4% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 11.6% (norm 10.4%)

Jared Cannonier

Distance 88.1% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 7.4% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 4.5% (norm 10.3%)

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

Ion Cutelaba

Head 82.2% (norm 79.2%) · Body 10.9% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 6.9% (norm 9.7%)

Jared Cannonier

Head 76.1% (norm 78.0%) · Body 13.5% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 10.4% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Cutelaba L/AAccLight Heavyweight med Cannonier L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 416 / 1209 34.4% 41.4% 1007 / 2223 45.3% 40.5%
In the clinch 138 / 198 69.7% 70.9% 146 / 186 78.5% 70.3%
On the ground 140 / 184 76.1% 72.3% 92 / 113 81.4% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 480 / 1308 36.7% 38.9% 779 / 1918 40.6% 38.9%
To the body 124 / 174 71.3% 71.9% 252 / 341 73.9% 71.7%
To the legs 90 / 109 82.6% 81.8% 214 / 263 81.4% 83.3%

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 (Light Heavyweight: 93 fighters · Middleweight: 174 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 Cutelaba L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med vs Cannonier L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 445 / 888 50.1% 40.4% 1137 / 2668 42.6% 39.5%
In the clinch 71 / 99 71.7% 68.7% 83 / 127 65.4% 70.9%
On the ground 59 / 80 73.8% 70.4% 57 / 98 58.2% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 429 / 897 47.8% 37.5% 870 / 2369 36.7% 37.9%
To the body 74 / 93 79.6% 72.3% 233 / 328 71.0% 71.3%
To the legs 72 / 77 93.5% 83.0% 174 / 196 88.8% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

4551.1% acc · 4.02/15 · norm 0.87
Takedowns landed
1545.5% acc · 0.77/15 · norm 1.42
3276.2% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
4664.8% def · norm 63.1%
38:5823.2% of cage time · norm 16.5%
Control time
36:2512.4% of cage time · norm 19.75%
30:442:44 per 15 · norm 2:48
Time under control
36:091:51 per 15 · norm 3:00
30.27/15 · norm 0.27
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.47

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.