BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Vitor Belfort vs.
Randy Couture

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

15-10-0 (1 NC) Vitor Belfort · UFC
16-8-0 Randy Couture · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

15-10-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
16-8-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Heavyweight
49.3
AgeΔ 13.8 yrs
63.1
6'0"
HeightΔ 1"
6'1"
74"
ReachΔ 1"
75"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
98.8
Layoff (months)Δ 84.4 mo
183.2
LWNCLL
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.

Randy Couture is a submission threat — 0.60 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.16 Heavyweight norm.
Vitor Belfort carries real power — 1.14 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.
Randy Couture hunts takedowns — 2.85 per 15 minutes, vs a 0.95 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.

Vitor Belfort

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

In the UFC: 10-10 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.1 wins over .500

Randy Couture

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

In the UFC: 13-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.7 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

2871.99/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
7782.84/min · norm 3.36
5013.47/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
3961.45/min · norm 3.19
47.3%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
59.2%norm 47.8%
46.4%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
59.1%norm 52.5%
111.14/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
10.05/15 · norm 0.28

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

Vitor Belfort

Distance 59.1% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 19.3% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 21.6% (norm 10.3%)

Randy Couture

Distance 39.7% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 23.2% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 37.1% (norm 9.3%)

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

Vitor Belfort

Head 88.0% (norm 78.0%) · Body 7.9% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 4.1% (norm 8.4%)

Randy Couture

Head 84.6% (norm 79.2%) · Body 7.7% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 7.7% (norm 7.6%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Belfort L/AAccMiddleweight med Couture L/AAccHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 127 / 359 35.4% 40.5% 208 / 522 39.8% 40.1%
In the clinch 68 / 117 58.1% 70.3% 235 / 305 77.0% 70.6%
On the ground 92 / 131 70.2% 69.1% 335 / 488 68.6% 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 231 / 534 43.3% 38.9% 598 / 1113 53.7% 38.9%
To the body 34 / 48 70.8% 71.7% 87 / 101 86.1% 76.8%
To the legs 22 / 25 88.0% 83.3% 93 / 101 92.1% 87.8%

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 · 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 Belfort L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Couture L/AOpp accHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 195 / 499 39.1% 39.5% 186 / 652 28.5% 40.7%
In the clinch 88 / 132 66.7% 70.9% 105 / 158 66.5% 70.6%
On the ground 218 / 304 71.7% 69.0% 105 / 158 66.5% 72.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 335 / 719 46.6% 37.9% 269 / 819 32.8% 38.8%
To the body 52 / 80 65.0% 71.3% 71 / 83 85.5% 75.1%
To the legs 114 / 136 83.8% 82.1% 56 / 66 84.8% 84.4%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

675.0% acc · 0.62/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
5250.0% acc · 2.85/15 · norm 0.95
2665.0% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
1959.4% def · norm 64.3%
7:576.2% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
126:4251.0% of cage time · norm 17.2%
46:244:49 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
43:412:23 per 15 · norm 2:28
80.83/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
110.60/15 · norm 0.16

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.