BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Pablo Garza vs.
Dustin Poirier

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

3-3-0 Pablo Garza · UFC
22-9-0 (1 NC) Dustin Poirier · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

3-3-0
UFC record
22-9-0 (1 NC)
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
42.9
AgeΔ 5.4 yrs
37.5
6'1"
HeightΔ 4"
5'9"
73"
ReachΔ 1"
72"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
160
Layoff (months)Δ 147.4 mo
12.6
LWLLW
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.

Dustin Poirier carries real power — 0.65 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.25 Lightweight norm.
Dustin Poirier is a submission threat — 1.08 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.49 Lightweight norm.
Pablo Garza is a submission threat — 0.99 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.

Pablo Garza

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

In the UFC: 0-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.3 wins over .500

Dustin Poirier

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 229
Tier 3 — regional circuit 81

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.44 · 22 tier-1/2 wins · 23 finish wins over 41 documented bouts

In the UFC: 15-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.0 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

1573.46/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
18615.34/min · norm 3.42
1272.80/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
16274.67/min · norm 3.37
43.7%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
50.0%norm 43.5%
50.0%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
52.3%norm 56.3%
10.33/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
150.65/15 · norm 0.25

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

Pablo Garza

Distance 60.7% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 9.5% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 29.8% (norm 6.5%)

Dustin Poirier

Distance 81.8% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 11.3% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 7.0% (norm 8.0%)

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

Pablo Garza

Head 73.0% (norm 77.4%) · Body 16.2% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 10.9% (norm 7.8%)

Dustin Poirier

Head 87.2% (norm 78.2%) · Body 6.7% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 6.2% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Garza L/AAccFeatherweight med Poirier L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 76 / 218 34.9% 40.9% 1415 / 3044 46.5% 37.9%
In the clinch 18 / 34 52.9% 70.8% 280 / 419 66.8% 67.3%
On the ground 63 / 107 58.9% 69.2% 166 / 259 64.1% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 86 / 262 32.8% 37.2% 1490 / 3244 45.9% 35.0%
To the body 42 / 58 72.4% 68.2% 182 / 249 73.1% 69.1%
To the legs 29 / 39 74.4% 80.7% 189 / 229 82.5% 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 Garza L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Poirier L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 66 / 151 43.7% 39.2% 1285 / 2951 43.5% 38.9%
In the clinch 10 / 14 too few to rate 70.3% 197 / 277 71.1% 68.6%
On the ground 51 / 89 57.3% 69.4% 145 / 184 78.8% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 75 / 183 41.0% 35.9% 1048 / 2658 39.4% 35.1%
To the body 23 / 33 69.7% 67.9% 364 / 491 74.1% 68.1%
To the legs 29 / 38 76.3% 81.5% 215 / 263 81.7% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

325.0% acc · 0.99/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
2835.9% acc · 1.21/15 · norm 1.38
19.1% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
5863.0% def · norm 64.0%
9:0019.8% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
70:0220.1% of cage time · norm 19.5%
19:136:21 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
70:423:02 per 15 · norm 2:46
30.99/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
251.08/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.