Belal Muhammad vs. Stephen Thompson

UFC 15-6-0 (1 NC) vs. 12-9-1

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
15-6-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
12-9-1
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
38
AgeΔ 5 yrs
43
5'11"
HeightΔ 1"
6'0"
72"
ReachΔ 3"
75"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
2.1
Layoff (months)Δ 10.8 mo
12.9
LLLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Stephen Thompson rarely shoots — 0.23 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Belal Muhammad hunts takedowns — 1.98 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Belal Muhammad outworks the Welterweight division — 4.36 sig. strikes landed per minute, vs a 3.17 norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Belal Muhammad

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 176
Tier 3 — regional circuit 70

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.39 · 17 tier-1/2 wins · 6 finish wins over 31 documented bouts

In the UFC: 11-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.5 wins over .500

Stephen Thompson

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 129
Tier 3 — regional circuit 50

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.07 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 27 documented bouts

In the UFC: 10-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.9 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

15154.36/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
12934.05/min · norm 3.17
13623.92/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
9593.00/min · norm 3.06
42.4%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
46.0%norm 44.9%
55.2%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
54.9%norm 55.25%
00.00/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
100.47/15 · norm 0.38

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

Belal Muhammad

Distance 91.5% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 3.5% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 5.0% (norm 8.1%)

Stephen Thompson

Distance 93.2% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 4.2% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 2.6% (norm 8.1%)

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

Belal Muhammad

Head 86.6% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.1% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 4.3% (norm 8.4%)

Stephen Thompson

Head 79.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 15.4% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 5.6% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Muhammad L/AAccWelterweight med Thompson L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1324 / 3270 40.5% 38.6% 1158 / 2618 44.2% 38.6%
In the clinch 72 / 124 58.1% 67.8% 88 / 119 73.9% 67.8%
On the ground 119 / 178 66.9% 67.2% 47 / 73 64.4% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 1166 / 3095 37.7% 37.2% 857 / 2220 38.6% 37.2%
To the body 219 / 324 67.6% 70.7% 305 / 432 70.6% 70.7%
To the legs 130 / 153 85.0% 82.9% 131 / 158 82.9% 82.9%

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 (Welterweight: 182 fighters · Welterweight: 182 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 Muhammad L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Thompson L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1257 / 2896 43.4% 39.0% 666 / 1731 38.5% 39.0%
In the clinch 68 / 86 79.1% 68.9% 146 / 204 71.6% 68.9%
On the ground 37 / 57 64.9% 68.0% 147 / 191 77.0% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 780 / 2308 33.8% 35.6% 512 / 1495 34.2% 35.6%
To the body 245 / 350 70.0% 69.6% 172 / 276 62.3% 69.6%
To the legs 337 / 381 88.5% 82.1% 275 / 355 77.5% 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
4635.9% acc · 1.98/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
535.7% acc · 0.23/15 · norm 1.27
4890.6% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
5063.3% def · norm 63.9%
76:1821.9% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
19:186.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
18:530:48 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
60:122:49 per 15 · norm 3:15
30.13/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.45

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