BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Paulo Thiago vs.
Michel Prazeres

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

5-8-0 Paulo Thiago · UFC
10-4-0 Michel Prazeres · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

5-8-0
UFC record
10-4-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
45.5
AgeΔ 0.5 yrs
45
5'11"
HeightΔ 5"
5'6"
74"
ReachΔ 7"
67"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
142.7
Layoff (months)Δ 81.4 mo
61.3
LLLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWWW
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.

Michel Prazeres hunts takedowns — 3.94 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Paulo Thiago is a submission threat — 1.21 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Welterweight norm.
Michel Prazeres owns the mat — in control 33% of cage time, vs a 20% Lightweight 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.

Paulo Thiago

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

In the UFC: 2-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.8 wins over .500

Michel Prazeres

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

In the UFC: 4-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.6 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

2541.71/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
4072.38/min · norm 3.42
2951.99/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
4302.51/min · norm 3.37
39.1%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
47.2%norm 43.5%
63.5%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
57.6%norm 56.3%
40.40/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
20.18/15 · norm 0.25

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

Paulo Thiago

Distance 76.3% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 14.6% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 9.1% (norm 8.1%)

Michel Prazeres

Distance 83.1% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 7.8% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 9.2% (norm 8.0%)

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

Paulo Thiago

Head 81.7% (norm 78.2%) · Body 13.1% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 5.2% (norm 8.4%)

Michel Prazeres

Head 77.4% (norm 78.2%) · Body 12.5% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 10.1% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Thiago L/AAccWelterweight med Prazeres L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 151 / 495 30.5% 38.6% 298 / 717 41.6% 37.9%
In the clinch 73 / 95 76.8% 67.8% 42 / 67 62.7% 67.3%
On the ground 30 / 59 50.8% 67.2% 67 / 79 84.8% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 156 / 530 29.4% 37.2% 273 / 668 40.9% 35.0%
To the body 65 / 85 76.5% 70.7% 63 / 108 58.3% 69.1%
To the legs 33 / 34 97.1% 82.9% 71 / 87 81.6% 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 (Welterweight: 182 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 Thiago L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Prazeres L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 168 / 611 27.5% 39.0% 290 / 821 35.3% 38.9%
In the clinch 29 / 52 55.8% 68.9% 81 / 105 77.1% 68.6%
On the ground 98 / 146 67.1% 68.0% 59 / 87 67.8% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 199 / 642 31.0% 35.6% 233 / 766 30.4% 35.1%
To the body 48 / 86 55.8% 69.6% 117 / 154 76.0% 68.1%
To the legs 48 / 81 59.3% 82.1% 80 / 93 86.0% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

1431.8% acc · 1.42/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
4536.0% acc · 3.94/15 · norm 1.38
3063.8% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
1147.8% def · norm 64.0%
22:3815.3% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
55:5732.7% of cage time · norm 19.5%
62:026:16 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
27:042:22 per 15 · norm 2:46
121.21/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
70.61/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.