BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Tecia Pennington vs.
Sam Hughes

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

11-8-0 Tecia Pennington · UFC
6-6-0 Sam Hughes · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

11-8-0
UFC record
6-6-0
Women's Strawweight
Division (benchmark)
Women's Strawweight
37
AgeΔ 2.9 yrs
34.1
5'1"
HeightΔ 4"
5'5"
60"
ReachΔ 4"
64"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
8.9
Layoff (months)Δ 4.1 mo
4.8
LWWLL
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.

Tecia Pennington rarely shoots — 0.56 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.10 Women's Strawweight norm.
Sam Hughes owns the mat — in control 27% of cage time, vs a 19% Women's Strawweight norm.
Tecia Pennington defends head shots well — opponents land just 27%, vs a 36% 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.

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

Sam Hughes

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 66
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 21
Tier 3 — regional circuit 30

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.88 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 6 finish wins over 18 documented bouts

In the UFC: 3-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.9 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

12574.73/min · norm 3.77
Sig. strikes landed
7104.41/min · norm 3.77
9253.48/min · norm 3.94
Sig. strikes absorbed
7544.69/min · norm 3.94
48.0%norm 44.5%
Striking accuracy
47.5%norm 44.5%
61.9%norm 54.4%
Striking defense
58.1%norm 54.4%
10.06/15 · norm 0.00
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.00

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

Tecia Pennington

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

Sam Hughes

Distance 85.2% (norm 86.9%) · Clinch 6.6% (norm 7.7%) · Ground 8.2% (norm 5.0%)

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

Tecia Pennington

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

Sam Hughes

Head 77.8% (norm 76.4%) · Body 12.5% (norm 14.9%) · Legs 9.7% (norm 9.1%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Pennington L/AAccWomen's Strawweight med Hughes L/AAccWomen's Strawweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1069 / 2326 46.0% 38.3% 543 / 1273 42.7% 38.3%
In the clinch 148 / 238 62.2% 72.6% 78 / 99 78.8% 72.6%
On the ground 40 / 55 72.7% 75.0% 89 / 122 73.0% 75.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 685 / 1868 36.7% 35.4% 478 / 1162 41.1% 35.4%
To the body 264 / 371 71.2% 69.3% 121 / 187 64.7% 69.3%
To the legs 308 / 380 81.1% 77.9% 111 / 145 76.6% 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 Pennington L/AOpp accWomen's Strawweight med vs Hughes L/AOpp accWomen's Strawweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 664 / 2081 31.9% 39.7% 588 / 1594 36.9% 39.7%
In the clinch 185 / 252 73.4% 71.5% 148 / 181 81.8% 71.5%
On the ground 76 / 94 80.9% 74.4% 18 / 25 72.0% 74.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 471 / 1764 26.7% 36.0% 395 / 1304 30.3% 36.0%
To the body 288 / 433 66.5% 68.4% 266 / 371 71.7% 68.4%
To the legs 166 / 230 72.2% 79.1% 93 / 125 74.4% 79.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

1014.9% acc · 0.56/15 · norm 1.10
Takedowns landed
1229.3% acc · 1.12/15 · norm 1.10
6162.9% def · norm 64.1%
Takedowns stopped
3363.5% def · norm 64.1%
41:5315.8% of cage time · norm 19.4%
Control time
43:2427.0% of cage time · norm 19.4%
52:042:56 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
17:581:40 per 15 · norm 3:00
10.06/15 · norm 0.29
Submission attempts
20.19/15 · 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.