BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

John Salter vs.
Jason MacDonald

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 John Salter · UFC
6-8-0 Jason MacDonald · 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
6-8-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
41
AgeΔ 10 yrs
51
6'1"
HeightΔ 2"
6'3"
74"
ReachΔ 6"
80"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
191.3
Layoff (months)Δ 20.6 mo
170.7
LWL
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.

Jason MacDonald is a submission threat — 1.97 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.47 Middleweight norm.
Jason MacDonald owns the mat — in control 37% of cage time, vs a 20% Middleweight norm.
John Salter hunts takedowns — 2.61 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight 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.

John Salter

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

In the UFC: 0-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.0 wins over .500

Jason MacDonald

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

In the UFC: 3-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.4 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

311.35/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
1301.55/min · norm 3.25
492.13/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
2262.70/min · norm 3.20
23.7%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
52.8%norm 47.4%
69.8%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
46.9%norm 53.8%
00.00/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.32

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

John Salter

Distance 91.6% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 7.6% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 0.8% (norm 10.3%)

Jason MacDonald

Distance 43.5% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 30.9% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 25.6% (norm 10.3%)

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

John Salter

Head 95.4% (norm 78.0%) · Body 2.3% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 2.3% (norm 8.4%)

Jason MacDonald

Head 63.4% (norm 78.0%) · Body 9.3% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 27.2% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Salter L/AAccMiddleweight med MacDonald L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 25 / 120 20.8% 40.5% 24 / 107 22.4% 40.5%
In the clinch 5 / 10 too few to rate 70.3% 61 / 76 80.3% 70.3%
On the ground 1 / 1 too few to rate 69.1% 45 / 63 71.4% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 27 / 125 21.6% 38.9% 50 / 156 32.1% 38.9%
To the body 3 / 3 too few to rate 71.7% 20 / 23 too few to rate 71.7%
To the legs 1 / 3 too few to rate 83.3% 60 / 67 89.6% 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 (Middleweight: 174 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 Salter L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs MacDonald L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 38 / 139 27.3% 39.5% 41 / 118 34.7% 39.5%
In the clinch 4 / 5 too few to rate 70.9% 51 / 75 68.0% 70.9%
On the ground 7 / 18 too few to rate 69.0% 134 / 233 57.5% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 37 / 146 25.3% 37.9% 191 / 381 50.1% 37.9%
To the body 6 / 10 too few to rate 71.3% 23 / 27 85.2% 71.3%
To the legs 6 / 6 too few to rate 82.1% 12 / 18 too few to rate 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

440.0% acc · 2.61/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
816.3% acc · 1.43/15 · norm 1.42
266.7% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
635.3% def · norm 63.1%
4:1618.6% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
31:0837.2% of cage time · norm 19.75%
2:201:31 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
35:186:19 per 15 · norm 3:00
00.00/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
111.97/15 · norm 0.47

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.