BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Thiago Santos vs.
Jan Blachowicz

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

14-10-0 Thiago Santos · UFC
12-9-2 Jan Blachowicz · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

14-10-0
UFC record
12-9-2
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Light Heavyweight
42.6
AgeΔ 0.8 yrs
43.4
6'2"
HeightΔ 0"
6'2"
76"
ReachΔ 2"
78"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
48
Layoff (months)Δ 47.8 mo
0.2
LLWLL
Last 5 (newest first)
LDLLD
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.

Thiago Santos carries real power — 0.88 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.
Thiago Santos rarely shoots — 0.88 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight norm.
Jan Blachowicz is a submission threat — 0.36 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.27 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.

Thiago Santos

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

In the UFC: 11-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.6 wins over .500

Jan Blachowicz

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 129
Tier 3 — regional circuit 123

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.87 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 38 documented bouts

In the UFC: 11-8 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.8 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

8883.72/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
10403.53/min · norm 3.41
6142.57/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
9533.23/min · norm 3.35
48.2%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
50.2%norm 48.3%
53.9%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
51.6%norm 52.9%
140.88/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
70.36/15 · norm 0.40

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

Thiago Santos

Distance 69.7% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 9.8% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 20.5% (norm 10.3%)

Jan Blachowicz

Distance 85.1% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 7.3% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 7.6% (norm 10.4%)

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

Thiago Santos

Head 65.9% (norm 78.0%) · Body 16.8% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 17.3% (norm 8.4%)

Jan Blachowicz

Head 73.9% (norm 79.2%) · Body 15.4% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 10.7% (norm 9.7%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Santos L/AAccMiddleweight med Blachowicz L/AAccLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 512 / 1285 39.8% 40.5% 815 / 1762 46.3% 41.4%
In the clinch 150 / 181 82.9% 70.3% 107 / 151 70.9% 70.9%
On the ground 226 / 378 59.8% 69.1% 118 / 157 75.2% 72.3%
BY TARGET
To the head 455 / 1216 37.4% 38.9% 639 / 1530 41.8% 38.9%
To the body 204 / 309 66.0% 71.7% 215 / 319 67.4% 71.9%
To the legs 229 / 319 71.8% 83.3% 186 / 221 84.2% 81.8%

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 · Light Heavyweight: 93 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 Santos L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Blachowicz L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 417 / 1085 38.4% 39.5% 628 / 1520 41.3% 40.4%
In the clinch 87 / 110 79.1% 70.9% 80 / 108 74.1% 68.7%
On the ground 110 / 138 79.7% 69.0% 245 / 340 72.1% 70.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 330 / 914 36.1% 37.9% 563 / 1428 39.4% 37.5%
To the body 141 / 215 65.6% 71.3% 156 / 254 61.4% 72.3%
To the legs 143 / 204 70.1% 82.1% 234 / 286 81.8% 83.0%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

1433.3% acc · 0.88/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
1948.7% acc · 0.97/15 · norm 0.87
3865.5% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
4270.0% def · norm 66.7%
31:3813.2% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
39:1213.3% of cage time · norm 16.5%
39:232:28 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
79:114:01 per 15 · norm 2:48
10.06/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
70.36/15 · norm 0.27

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.