BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Kai Kamaka III vs.
Dakota Hope

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

1-1-0 Kai Kamaka III · UFC
0-1-0 Dakota Hope · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

1-1-0
UFC record
0-1-0
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
Age
29
Height
Reach
Stance
0.9
Layoff (months)Δ 3.2 mo
4.1
LW
Last 5 (newest first)
L
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.

Dakota Hope carries real power — 1.00 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.25 Lightweight norm.
Kai Kamaka III absorbs 8.25 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.47 Featherweight norm — hittable.
Dakota Hope absorbs 7.00 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.37 Lightweight norm — hittable.
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.

Kai Kamaka III

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 105
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 10
Tier 3 — regional circuit 73

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.86 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 4 finish wins over 27 documented bouts

In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.0 wins over .500

Dakota Hope

Full career not yet synced for Dakota Hope — 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

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

1287.09/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
1067.07/min · norm 3.42
1498.25/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
1057.00/min · norm 3.37
64.0%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
41.1%norm 43.5%
54.2%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
34.0%norm 56.3%
00.00/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
11.00/15 · norm 0.25

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

Kai Kamaka III

Distance 86.0% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 14.0% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 0.0% (norm 6.5%)

Dakota Hope

Distance 76.4% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 22.1% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 1.6% (norm 8.0%)

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

Kai Kamaka III

Head 58.5% (norm 77.4%) · Body 28.0% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 13.5% (norm 7.8%)

Dakota Hope

Head 77.9% (norm 78.2%) · Body 20.9% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 1.2% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone III L/AAccFeatherweight med Hope L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 106 / 172 61.6% 40.9% 61 / 197 31.0% 37.9%
In the clinch 22 / 28 78.6% 70.8% 44 / 57 77.2% 67.3%
On the ground 0 / 0 too few to rate 69.2% 1 / 4 too few to rate 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 53 / 117 45.3% 37.2% 62 / 201 30.8% 35.0%
To the body 51 / 56 91.1% 68.2% 43 / 54 79.6% 69.1%
To the legs 24 / 27 88.9% 80.7% 1 / 3 too few to rate 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 (Featherweight: 126 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 III L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Hope L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 96 / 255 37.6% 39.2% 83 / 131 63.4% 38.9%
In the clinch 50 / 64 78.1% 70.3% 22 / 28 78.6% 68.6%
On the ground 3 / 6 too few to rate 69.4% 0 / 0 too few to rate 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 92 / 254 36.2% 35.9% 44 / 94 46.8% 35.1%
To the body 52 / 64 81.2% 67.9% 47 / 51 92.2% 68.1%
To the legs 5 / 7 too few to rate 81.5% 14 / 14 too few to rate 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

00.0% acc · 0.00/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
133.3% acc · 1.00/15 · norm 1.38
266.7% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
1100.0% def · norm 64.0%
0:232.1% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
1:188.7% of cage time · norm 19.5%
1:201:06 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
0:230:23 per 15 · norm 2:46
00.00/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.