BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Belal Muhammad vs.
Gilbert Burns

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

15-6-0 (1 NC) Belal Muhammad · UFC
15-10-0 Gilbert Burns · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

15-6-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
15-10-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
38.1
AgeΔ 1.9 yrs
40
5'11"
HeightΔ 1"
5'10"
72"
ReachΔ 1"
71"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
2
Layoff (months)Δ 1.6 mo
3.6
LLLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLLL
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.

Gilbert Burns hunts takedowns — 2.04 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

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.

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

Gilbert Burns

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1510
Tier 3 — regional circuit 70

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.21 · 15 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 32 documented bouts

In the UFC: 9-10 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.2 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

15154.36/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
9743.16/min · norm 3.17
13623.92/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
11353.68/min · norm 3.06
42.4%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
48.1%norm 44.9%
55.2%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
52.5%norm 55.25%
00.00/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
40.19/15 · 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%)

Gilbert Burns

Distance 84.3% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 7.1% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 8.5% (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%)

Gilbert Burns

Head 74.4% (norm 78.2%) · Body 13.8% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 11.9% (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 Burns L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1324 / 3270 40.5% 38.6% 737 / 1708 43.1% 38.6%
In the clinch 72 / 124 58.1% 67.8% 99 / 144 68.8% 67.8%
On the ground 119 / 178 66.9% 67.2% 138 / 173 79.8% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 1166 / 3095 37.7% 37.2% 571 / 1506 37.9% 37.2%
To the body 219 / 324 67.6% 70.7% 216 / 279 77.4% 70.7%
To the legs 130 / 153 85.0% 82.9% 187 / 240 77.9% 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 Burns L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1257 / 2896 43.4% 39.0% 957 / 2144 44.6% 39.0%
In the clinch 68 / 86 79.1% 68.9% 89 / 121 73.6% 68.9%
On the ground 37 / 57 64.9% 68.0% 89 / 126 70.6% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 780 / 2308 33.8% 35.6% 766 / 1896 40.4% 35.6%
To the body 245 / 350 70.0% 69.6% 196 / 298 65.8% 69.6%
To the legs 337 / 381 88.5% 82.1% 173 / 197 87.8% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

4635.9% acc · 1.98/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
4235.6% acc · 2.04/15 · norm 1.27
4890.6% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
2253.7% def · norm 63.9%
76:1821.9% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
70:2122.8% of cage time · norm 18.5%
18:530:48 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
36:521:47 per 15 · norm 3:15
30.13/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
90.44/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.