BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Ryan Bader 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.

15-5-0 Ryan Bader · 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.

15-5-0
UFC record
13-6-0
Light Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
43.2
AgeΔ 0.8 yrs
42.4
6'2"
HeightΔ 0"
6'2"
74"
ReachΔ 4"
78"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
116.5
Layoff (months)Δ 4.6 mo
111.9
WWLWW
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.
Ryan Bader hunts takedowns — 3.37 per 15 minutes, vs a 0.87 Light Heavyweight norm.
Ryan Bader owns the mat — in control 37% 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.

Ryan Bader

Full career not yet synced for Ryan Bader — 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 +3.1 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

5772.82/min · norm 3.41
Sig. strikes landed
3813.25/min · norm 3.17
2851.39/min · norm 3.35
Sig. strikes absorbed
2151.83/min · norm 3.06
43.3%norm 48.3%
Striking accuracy
47.6%norm 44.9%
71.8%norm 52.9%
Striking defense
60.4%norm 55.25%
70.51/15 · norm 0.40
Knockdowns
131.66/15 · norm 0.38

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

Ryan Bader

Distance 68.9% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 6.8% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 24.3% (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)

Ryan Bader

Head 84.6% (norm 79.2%) · Body 7.7% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 7.7% (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 Bader L/AAccLight Heavyweight med Johnson L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 278 / 918 30.3% 41.4% 214 / 555 38.6% 38.6%
In the clinch 59 / 90 65.6% 70.9% 67 / 93 72.0% 67.8%
On the ground 240 / 324 74.1% 72.3% 100 / 152 65.8% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 423 / 1127 37.5% 38.9% 255 / 639 39.9% 37.2%
To the body 71 / 102 69.6% 71.9% 57 / 77 74.0% 70.7%
To the legs 83 / 103 80.6% 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 Bader L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med vs Johnson L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 218 / 905 24.1% 40.4% 112 / 408 27.5% 39.0%
In the clinch 31 / 54 57.4% 68.7% 45 / 64 70.3% 68.9%
On the ground 36 / 50 72.0% 70.4% 58 / 71 81.7% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 179 / 835 21.4% 37.5% 133 / 409 32.5% 35.6%
To the body 67 / 115 58.3% 72.3% 28 / 60 46.7% 69.6%
To the legs 39 / 59 66.1% 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.

4644.2% acc · 3.37/15 · norm 0.87
Takedowns landed
1957.6% acc · 2.43/15 · norm 1.27
2580.6% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
2477.4% def · norm 63.9%
76:2637.3% of cage time · norm 16.5%
Control time
43:2537.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
13:240:58 per 15 · norm 2:48
Time under control
23:192:58 per 15 · norm 3:15
60.44/15 · 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 — Bader has more cage time on record.

Next move

Let the engine settle it.