BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Tabatha Ricci vs.
Tecia Pennington

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

7-5-0 Tabatha Ricci · UFC
11-8-0 Tecia Pennington · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

7-5-0
UFC record
11-8-0
Women's Strawweight
Division (benchmark)
Women's Strawweight
31
AgeΔ 5 yrs
36
5'1"
HeightΔ 0"
5'1"
61"
ReachΔ 1"
60"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
0.6
Layoff (months)Δ 8.3 mo
8.9
LLWLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LWWLL
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.

Tabatha Ricci hunts takedowns — 2.37 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.10 Women's Strawweight norm.
Tecia Pennington rarely shoots — 0.56 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.10 Women's Strawweight norm.
Tabatha Ricci owns the mat — in control 25% of cage time, vs a 19% Women's Strawweight 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.

Tabatha Ricci

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 75
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 30
Tier 3 — regional circuit 20

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.24 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 5 finish wins over 17 documented bouts

In the UFC: 3-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.8 wins over .500

Tecia Pennington

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 118
Tier 3 — regional circuit 40

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.03 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 2 finish wins over 23 documented bouts

In the UFC: 5-8 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.6 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

5973.77/min · norm 3.77
Sig. strikes landed
12574.73/min · norm 3.77
7584.79/min · norm 3.94
Sig. strikes absorbed
9253.48/min · norm 3.94
36.5%norm 44.5%
Striking accuracy
48.0%norm 44.5%
58.1%norm 54.4%
Striking defense
61.9%norm 54.4%
00.00/15 · norm 0.00
Knockdowns
10.06/15 · norm 0.00

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

Tabatha Ricci

Distance 91.2% (norm 86.9%) · Clinch 3.5% (norm 7.7%) · Ground 5.3% (norm 5.0%)

Tecia Pennington

Distance 88.8% (norm 86.9%) · Clinch 9.1% (norm 7.7%) · Ground 2.1% (norm 5.0%)

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

Tabatha Ricci

Head 81.4% (norm 76.4%) · Body 8.3% (norm 14.9%) · Legs 10.3% (norm 9.1%)

Tecia Pennington

Head 71.3% (norm 76.4%) · Body 14.2% (norm 14.9%) · Legs 14.5% (norm 9.1%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Ricci L/AAccWomen's Strawweight med Pennington L/AAccWomen's Strawweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 480 / 1492 32.2% 38.3% 1069 / 2326 46.0% 38.3%
In the clinch 41 / 57 71.9% 72.6% 148 / 238 62.2% 72.6%
On the ground 76 / 87 87.4% 75.0% 40 / 55 72.7% 75.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 395 / 1332 29.7% 35.4% 685 / 1868 36.7% 35.4%
To the body 81 / 136 59.6% 69.3% 264 / 371 71.2% 69.3%
To the legs 121 / 168 72.0% 77.9% 308 / 380 81.1% 77.9%

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 (Women's Strawweight: 63 fighters · Women's Strawweight: 63 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 Ricci L/AOpp accWomen's Strawweight med vs Pennington L/AOpp accWomen's Strawweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 658 / 1653 39.8% 39.7% 664 / 2081 31.9% 39.7%
In the clinch 79 / 128 61.7% 71.5% 185 / 252 73.4% 71.5%
On the ground 21 / 27 77.8% 74.4% 76 / 94 80.9% 74.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 489 / 1433 34.1% 36.0% 471 / 1764 26.7% 36.0%
To the body 184 / 271 67.9% 68.4% 288 / 433 66.5% 68.4%
To the legs 85 / 104 81.7% 79.1% 166 / 230 72.2% 79.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

2534.7% acc · 2.37/15 · norm 1.10
Takedowns landed
1014.9% acc · 0.56/15 · norm 1.10
1954.3% def · norm 64.1%
Takedowns stopped
6162.9% def · norm 64.1%
39:4225.1% of cage time · norm 19.4%
Control time
41:5315.8% of cage time · norm 19.4%
14:511:24 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
52:042:56 per 15 · norm 3:00
10.09/15 · norm 0.29
Submission attempts
10.06/15 · norm 0.29

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.