Paul Creighton vs. BJ Penn

UFC 0-1-0 vs. 12-13-2

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
0-1-0
UFC record
12-13-2
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
56
AgeΔ 9 yrs
47
5'6"
HeightΔ 3"
5'9"
Reach
70"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
290.9
Layoff (months)Δ 204 mo
86.9
L
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLLL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Paul Creighton hunts takedowns — 5.37 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Opponents land 53% of their head shots on Paul Creighton, vs a 35% Lightweight norm — a hole in the guard.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Paul Creighton

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 01
Tier 3 — regional circuit 30

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.67 · 0 tier-1/2 wins · 2 finish wins over 4 documented bouts

In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.0 wins over .500

BJ Penn

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1213
Tier 3 — regional circuit 41

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.8 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 32 documented bouts

In the UFC: 8-13 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.6 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

60.72/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
9992.80/min · norm 3.42
394.65/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
12393.48/min · norm 3.37
75.0%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
47.5%norm 43.5%
30.4%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
56.9%norm 56.3%
00.00/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
70.29/15 · norm 0.25

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

Paul Creighton

Distance 37.5% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 50.0% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 12.5% (norm 8.0%)

BJ Penn

Distance 75.9% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 13.3% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 10.9% (norm 8.0%)

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

Paul Creighton

Head 50.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 50.0% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 0.0% (norm 7.9%)

BJ Penn

Head 88.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.1% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 3.0% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Creighton L/AAccLightweight med Penn L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1 / 3 too few to rate 37.9% 628 / 1594 39.4% 37.9%
In the clinch 4 / 4 too few to rate 67.3% 210 / 279 75.3% 67.3%
On the ground 1 / 1 too few to rate 69.1% 161 / 228 70.6% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 2 / 4 too few to rate 35.0% 783 / 1848 42.4% 35.0%
To the body 4 / 4 too few to rate 69.1% 162 / 191 84.8% 69.1%
To the legs 0 / 0 too few to rate 81.9% 54 / 62 87.1% 81.9%

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 (Lightweight: 201 fighters · Lightweight: 201 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 Creighton L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Penn L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 2 / 7 too few to rate 38.9% 849 / 2259 37.6% 38.9%
In the clinch 20 / 21 too few to rate 68.6% 170 / 280 60.7% 68.6%
On the ground 17 / 28 60.7% 68.0% 220 / 334 65.9% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 17 / 32 53.1% 35.1% 793 / 2236 35.5% 35.1%
To the body 14 / 14 too few to rate 68.1% 242 / 360 67.2% 68.1%
To the legs 8 / 10 too few to rate 81.5% 204 / 277 73.6% 81.5%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
337.5% acc · 5.37/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
2657.8% acc · 1.09/15 · norm 1.38
0— def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
10976.2% def · norm 64.0%
1:4520.9% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
58:0516.3% of cage time · norm 19.5%
3:296:13 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
103:454:22 per 15 · norm 2:46
00.00/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
120.51/15 · norm 0.49

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