BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Max Holloway vs.
Ilia Topuria

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

24-9-0 Max Holloway · UFC
9-1-0 Ilia Topuria · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

24-9-0
UFC record
9-1-0
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
34
AgeΔ 5 yrs
29
5'11"
HeightΔ 4"
5'7"
69"
ReachΔ 0"
69"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
0.9
Layoff (months)Δ 0.9 mo
1.8
WLWLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LWWWW
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.

Ilia Topuria carries real power — 1.15 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.29 Featherweight norm.
Max Holloway outworks the Featherweight division — 6.92 sig. strikes landed per minute, vs a 3.54 norm.
Ilia Topuria is a submission threat — 0.86 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.46 Featherweight 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.

Max Holloway

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 249
Tier 3 — regional circuit 40

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.62 · 24 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 37 documented bouts

In the UFC: 20-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.9 wins over .500

Ilia Topuria

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 91
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 20
Tier 3 — regional circuit 60

Tier-weighted record quality: 2.06 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 18 documented bouts

In the UFC: 7-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +6.2 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

36936.92/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
5024.82/min · norm 3.54
24574.60/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
4143.97/min · norm 3.47
48.2%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
50.1%norm 45.0%
58.7%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
62.1%norm 54.85%
120.34/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
81.15/15 · norm 0.29

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

Max Holloway

Distance 92.2% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 4.2% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 3.5% (norm 6.5%)

Ilia Topuria

Distance 84.3% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 4.5% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 11.2% (norm 6.5%)

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

Max Holloway

Head 77.4% (norm 77.4%) · Body 15.7% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 6.8% (norm 7.8%)

Ilia Topuria

Head 78.3% (norm 77.4%) · Body 15.1% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 6.6% (norm 7.8%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Holloway L/AAccFeatherweight med Topuria L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 3252 / 7071 46.0% 40.9% 387 / 845 45.8% 40.9%
In the clinch 246 / 324 75.9% 70.8% 34 / 45 75.6% 70.8%
On the ground 195 / 271 72.0% 69.2% 81 / 112 72.3% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 2389 / 5935 40.3% 37.2% 343 / 785 43.7% 37.2%
To the body 899 / 1207 74.5% 68.2% 106 / 151 70.2% 68.2%
To the legs 405 / 524 77.3% 80.7% 53 / 66 80.3% 80.7%

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 · Featherweight: 126 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 Holloway L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Topuria L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 2264 / 5640 40.1% 39.2% 383 / 1046 36.6% 39.2%
In the clinch 126 / 202 62.4% 70.3% 24 / 34 70.6% 70.3%
On the ground 67 / 103 65.0% 69.4% 7 / 11 too few to rate 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 1559 / 4642 33.6% 35.9% 257 / 841 30.6% 35.9%
To the body 346 / 618 56.0% 67.9% 85 / 167 50.9% 67.9%
To the legs 552 / 685 80.6% 81.5% 72 / 83 86.7% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

853.3% acc · 0.22/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
1257.1% acc · 1.73/15 · norm 1.19
13681.4% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
2095.2% def · norm 61.5%
29:455.6% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
21:2020.5% of cage time · norm 16.7%
61:201:43 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
6:330:56 per 15 · norm 3:12
100.28/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
60.86/15 · norm 0.46

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.