BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Max Holloway vs.
Jose Aldo

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
14-9-0 Jose Aldo · 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
14-9-0
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
34.7
AgeΔ 5.2 yrs
39.9
5'11"
HeightΔ 4"
5'7"
69"
ReachΔ 1"
70"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
0.9
Layoff (months)Δ 14 mo
14.9
WLWLW
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.

Max Holloway outworks the Featherweight division — 6.92 sig. strikes landed per minute, vs a 3.54 norm.
Max Holloway rarely shoots — 0.22 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.19 Featherweight norm.
Jose Aldo rarely shoots — 0.51 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.19 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

Jose Aldo

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

In the UFC: 14-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.5 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
13543.57/min · norm 3.54
24574.60/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
16004.21/min · norm 3.47
48.2%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
45.3%norm 45.0%
58.7%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
58.4%norm 54.85%
120.34/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
70.28/15 · 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%)

Jose Aldo

Distance 93.6% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 2.3% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 4.0% (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%)

Jose Aldo

Head 79.8% (norm 77.4%) · Body 13.9% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 6.2% (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 Aldo L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 3252 / 7071 46.0% 40.9% 1220 / 2802 43.5% 40.9%
In the clinch 246 / 324 75.9% 70.8% 56 / 69 81.2% 70.8%
On the ground 195 / 271 72.0% 69.2% 78 / 121 64.5% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 2389 / 5935 40.3% 37.2% 913 / 2389 38.2% 37.2%
To the body 899 / 1207 74.5% 68.2% 280 / 416 67.3% 68.2%
To the legs 405 / 524 77.3% 80.7% 161 / 187 86.1% 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 Aldo L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 2264 / 5640 40.1% 39.2% 1242 / 3376 36.8% 39.2%
In the clinch 126 / 202 62.4% 70.3% 153 / 189 81.0% 70.3%
On the ground 67 / 103 65.0% 69.4% 205 / 277 74.0% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 1559 / 4642 33.6% 35.9% 991 / 2993 33.1% 35.9%
To the body 346 / 618 56.0% 67.9% 289 / 433 66.7% 67.9%
To the legs 552 / 685 80.6% 81.5% 320 / 416 76.9% 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
1350.0% acc · 0.51/15 · norm 1.19
13681.4% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
9891.6% def · norm 61.5%
29:455.6% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
44:0611.6% of cage time · norm 16.7%
61:201:43 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
52:302:04 per 15 · norm 3:12
100.28/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
40.16/15 · 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.