BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Youssef Zalal vs.
Da'Mon Blackshear

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

8-4-1 Youssef Zalal · UFC
5-4-1 Da'Mon Blackshear · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

8-4-1
UFC record
5-4-1
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Bantamweight
29.9
AgeΔ 2.1 yrs
32
5'10"
HeightΔ 0"
5'10"
72"
ReachΔ 0"
72"
Switch
Stance
Switch
3.4
Layoff (months)Δ 9 mo
12.4
LWWWW
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.

Da'Mon Blackshear is a submission threat — 1.48 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Bantamweight norm.
Youssef Zalal is a submission threat — 1.29 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.46 Featherweight norm.
Youssef Zalal owns the mat — in control 29% of cage time, vs a 17% Featherweight 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.

Youssef Zalal

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 84
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 42
Tier 3 — regional circuit 60

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.33 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 14 finish wins over 25 documented bouts

In the UFC: 4-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.7 wins over .500

Da'Mon Blackshear

Full career not yet synced for Da'Mon Blackshear — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 2-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.1 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4542.78/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
4394.33/min · norm 3.52
2921.79/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
4254.19/min · norm 3.58
50.9%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
45.9%norm 43.4%
64.9%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
52.2%norm 56.6%
20.18/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.30

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

Youssef Zalal

Distance 88.8% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 4.3% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 7.0% (norm 6.5%)

Da'Mon Blackshear

Distance 87.4% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 8.1% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 4.5% (norm 6.5%)

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

Youssef Zalal

Head 75.9% (norm 77.4%) · Body 12.0% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 12.1% (norm 7.8%)

Da'Mon Blackshear

Head 71.0% (norm 77.4%) · Body 15.7% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 13.3% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Zalal L/AAccFeatherweight med Blackshear L/AAccBantamweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 389 / 792 49.1% 40.9% 343 / 836 41.0% 39.0%
In the clinch 28 / 38 73.7% 70.8% 63 / 77 81.8% 68.7%
On the ground 37 / 62 59.7% 69.2% 33 / 43 76.7% 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 288 / 677 42.5% 37.2% 243 / 679 35.8% 34.9%
To the body 76 / 107 71.0% 68.2% 102 / 150 68.0% 66.8%
To the legs 90 / 108 83.3% 80.7% 94 / 127 74.0% 79.4%

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 (Featherweight: 126 fighters · Bantamweight: 117 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 Zalal L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Blackshear L/AOpp accBantamweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 235 / 750 31.3% 39.2% 337 / 770 43.8% 39.3%
In the clinch 47 / 66 71.2% 70.3% 52 / 67 77.6% 70.4%
On the ground 10 / 15 too few to rate 69.4% 36 / 52 69.2% 72.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 180 / 634 28.4% 35.9% 230 / 636 36.2% 34.9%
To the body 64 / 108 59.3% 67.9% 122 / 172 70.9% 66.0%
To the legs 48 / 89 53.9% 81.5% 73 / 81 90.1% 79.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

2031.7% acc · 1.84/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
1033.3% acc · 1.48/15 · norm 1.12
2455.8% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
2071.4% def · norm 66.7%
47:2529.0% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
23:2323.0% of cage time · norm 17.4%
41:233:48 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
18:112:41 per 15 · norm 2:24
141.29/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
101.48/15 · norm 0.28

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.