BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Ricardo Almeida vs.
Matt Hughes

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

6-5-0 Ricardo Almeida · UFC
18-7-0 Matt Hughes · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

6-5-0
UFC record
18-7-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
49.7
AgeΔ 3.1 yrs
52.8
6'0"
HeightΔ 3"
5'9"
74"
ReachΔ 1"
73"
Orthodox
Stance
Switch
184.6
Layoff (months)Δ 6.2 mo
178.4
LWLWW
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.

Ricardo Almeida is a submission threat — 1.46 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.47 Middleweight norm.
Matt Hughes owns the mat — in control 57% of cage time, vs a 18% Welterweight norm.
Ricardo Almeida hunts takedowns — 4.23 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight 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.

Ricardo Almeida

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

In the UFC: 3-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.7 wins over .500

Matt Hughes

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

In the UFC: 10-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.1 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

2552.25/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
5312.38/min · norm 3.17
1541.36/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
2861.28/min · norm 3.06
53.3%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
55.0%norm 44.9%
58.9%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
54.5%norm 55.25%
00.00/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
30.20/15 · norm 0.38

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

Ricardo Almeida

Distance 54.6% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 11.5% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 33.9% (norm 10.3%)

Matt Hughes

Distance 44.0% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 6.3% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 49.6% (norm 8.1%)

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

Ricardo Almeida

Head 74.9% (norm 78.0%) · Body 15.7% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 9.4% (norm 8.4%)

Matt Hughes

Head 81.3% (norm 78.2%) · Body 13.0% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 5.7% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Almeida L/AAccMiddleweight med Hughes L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 116 / 261 44.4% 40.5% 153 / 425 36.0% 38.6%
In the clinch 37 / 55 67.3% 70.3% 46 / 61 75.4% 67.8%
On the ground 102 / 162 63.0% 69.1% 332 / 479 69.3% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 156 / 358 43.6% 38.9% 364 / 785 46.4% 37.2%
To the body 64 / 75 85.3% 71.7% 117 / 125 93.6% 70.7%
To the legs 35 / 45 77.8% 83.3% 50 / 55 90.9% 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 (Middleweight: 174 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 Almeida L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Hughes L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 68 / 238 28.6% 39.5% 138 / 430 32.1% 39.0%
In the clinch 59 / 85 69.4% 70.9% 49 / 62 79.0% 68.9%
On the ground 27 / 52 51.9% 69.0% 99 / 136 72.8% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 67 / 272 24.6% 37.9% 196 / 503 39.0% 35.6%
To the body 47 / 54 87.0% 71.3% 63 / 87 72.4% 69.6%
To the legs 40 / 49 81.6% 82.1% 27 / 38 71.1% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

3238.1% acc · 4.23/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
4751.1% acc · 3.16/15 · norm 1.27
538.5% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
635.3% def · norm 63.9%
53:2047.1% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
117:5156.6% of cage time · norm 18.5%
22:252:57 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
29:371:59 per 15 · norm 3:15
111.46/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
161.08/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.