BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Sean Strickland vs.
Igor Araujo

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

18-7-0 Sean Strickland · UFC
2-2-0 Igor Araujo · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

18-7-0
UFC record
2-2-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
35.4
AgeΔ 10.3 yrs
45.7
6'1"
HeightΔ 0"
6'1"
76"
ReachΔ 1"
77"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
2.9
Layoff (months)Δ 129.8 mo
132.7
WWLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWW
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.

Sean Strickland outworks the Middleweight division — 5.98 sig. strikes landed per minute, vs a 3.25 norm.
Igor Araujo owns the mat — in control 31% of cage time, vs a 18% Welterweight norm.
Igor Araujo's takedown defense leaks — 22% stopped, vs a 64% Welterweight 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.

Sean Strickland

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 187
Tier 3 — regional circuit 130

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.46 · 18 tier-1/2 wins · 16 finish wins over 38 documented bouts

In the UFC: 16-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.5 wins over .500

Igor Araujo

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

In the UFC: 1-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.0 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

24305.98/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
801.52/min · norm 3.17
18424.53/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
1502.86/min · norm 3.06
42.5%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
42.1%norm 44.9%
60.6%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
49.8%norm 55.25%
70.26/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.38

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

Sean Strickland

Distance 94.7% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 2.0% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 3.2% (norm 10.3%)

Igor Araujo

Distance 62.6% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 10.5% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 26.8% (norm 8.1%)

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

Sean Strickland

Head 88.1% (norm 78.0%) · Body 9.1% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 2.8% (norm 8.4%)

Igor Araujo

Head 61.1% (norm 78.2%) · Body 23.2% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 15.8% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Strickland L/AAccMiddleweight med Araujo L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 2239 / 5415 41.3% 40.5% 49 / 119 41.2% 38.6%
In the clinch 78 / 117 66.7% 70.3% 10 / 20 too few to rate 67.8%
On the ground 113 / 185 61.1% 69.1% 21 / 51 41.2% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 1963 / 5036 39.0% 38.9% 37 / 116 31.9% 37.2%
To the body 343 / 523 65.6% 71.7% 23 / 44 52.3% 70.7%
To the legs 124 / 158 78.5% 83.3% 20 / 30 66.7% 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 Strickland L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Araujo L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1738 / 4517 38.5% 39.5% 46 / 153 30.1% 39.0%
In the clinch 50 / 77 64.9% 70.9% 31 / 46 67.4% 68.9%
On the ground 54 / 87 62.1% 69.0% 73 / 100 73.0% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 769 / 3096 24.8% 37.9% 113 / 254 44.5% 35.6%
To the body 631 / 1021 61.8% 71.3% 23 / 27 85.2% 69.6%
To the legs 442 / 564 78.4% 82.1% 14 / 18 too few to rate 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

1862.1% acc · 0.66/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
315.8% acc · 0.86/15 · norm 1.27
5368.8% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
222.2% def · norm 63.9%
33:528.3% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
16:2531.3% of cage time · norm 18.5%
26:290:58 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
18:525:23 per 15 · norm 3:15
40.15/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
20.57/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.