BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Phil Davis vs.
Anthony Johnson

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

9-3-0 (1 NC) Phil Davis · UFC
13-6-0 Anthony Johnson · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

9-3-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
13-6-0
Light Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
41
AgeΔ 1 yrs
42
6'2"
HeightΔ 0"
6'2"
79"
ReachΔ 1"
78"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
138.4
Layoff (months)Δ 26.4 mo
112
LWLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LWWWL
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.

Anthony Johnson carries real power — 1.66 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.38 Welterweight norm.
Phil Davis hunts takedowns — 2.76 per 15 minutes, vs a 0.87 Light Heavyweight norm.
Phil Davis owns the mat — in control 34% of cage time, vs a 16% Light Heavyweight 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.

Phil Davis

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

In the UFC: 6-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.5 wins over .500

Anthony Johnson

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

In the UFC: 10-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.0 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4852.87/min · norm 3.41
Sig. strikes landed
3813.25/min · norm 3.17
2241.33/min · norm 3.35
Sig. strikes absorbed
2151.83/min · norm 3.06
34.5%norm 48.3%
Striking accuracy
47.6%norm 44.9%
72.3%norm 52.9%
Striking defense
60.4%norm 55.25%
00.00/15 · norm 0.40
Knockdowns
131.66/15 · norm 0.38

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

Phil Davis

Distance 73.9% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 6.3% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 19.8% (norm 10.4%)

Anthony Johnson

Distance 69.4% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 11.6% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 19.0% (norm 8.1%)

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

Phil Davis

Head 75.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 18.0% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 7.0% (norm 9.7%)

Anthony Johnson

Head 79.9% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.6% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 10.5% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Davis L/AAccLight Heavyweight med Johnson L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 241 / 1039 23.2% 41.4% 214 / 555 38.6% 38.6%
In the clinch 62 / 89 69.7% 70.9% 67 / 93 72.0% 67.8%
On the ground 182 / 278 65.5% 72.3% 100 / 152 65.8% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 272 / 1055 25.8% 38.9% 255 / 639 39.9% 37.2%
To the body 149 / 253 58.9% 71.9% 57 / 77 74.0% 70.7%
To the legs 64 / 98 65.3% 81.8% 69 / 84 82.1% 82.9%

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 (Light Heavyweight: 93 fighters · Welterweight: 182 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 Davis L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med vs Johnson L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 182 / 730 24.9% 40.4% 112 / 408 27.5% 39.0%
In the clinch 24 / 54 44.4% 68.7% 45 / 64 70.3% 68.9%
On the ground 18 / 26 69.2% 70.4% 58 / 71 81.7% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 150 / 678 22.1% 37.5% 133 / 409 32.5% 35.6%
To the body 37 / 74 50.0% 72.3% 28 / 60 46.7% 69.6%
To the legs 37 / 58 63.8% 83.0% 54 / 74 73.0% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

3135.6% acc · 2.76/15 · norm 0.87
Takedowns landed
1957.6% acc · 2.43/15 · norm 1.27
1372.2% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
2477.4% def · norm 63.9%
56:5033.7% of cage time · norm 16.5%
Control time
43:2537.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
9:370:51 per 15 · norm 2:48
Time under control
23:192:58 per 15 · norm 3:15
60.53/15 · norm 0.27
Submission attempts
50.64/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.