BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Ben Rothwell vs.
Brandon Vera

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

9-8-0 Ben Rothwell · UFC
8-7-0 (1 NC) Brandon Vera · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

9-8-0
UFC record
8-7-0 (1 NC)
Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Light Heavyweight
44.8
AgeΔ 4 yrs
48.8
6'4"
HeightΔ 1"
6'3"
78"
ReachΔ 0"
78"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
56.7
Layoff (months)Δ 98.5 mo
155.2
LWLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWNCL
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.

Ben Rothwell is a submission threat — 0.53 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.16 Heavyweight norm.
Ben Rothwell absorbs 5.21 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.19 Heavyweight norm — hittable.
Brandon Vera carries real power — 0.64 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.40 Light 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.

Ben Rothwell

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

In the UFC: 6-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.5 wins over .500

Brandon Vera

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

In the UFC: 3-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.4 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

6813.99/min · norm 3.36
Sig. strikes landed
5033.07/min · norm 3.41
8895.21/min · norm 3.19
Sig. strikes absorbed
4802.93/min · norm 3.35
43.3%norm 47.8%
Striking accuracy
55.8%norm 48.3%
44.7%norm 52.5%
Striking defense
52.5%norm 52.9%
40.35/15 · norm 0.28
Knockdowns
70.64/15 · norm 0.40

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

Ben Rothwell

Distance 86.4% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 8.3% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 5.3% (norm 9.3%)

Brandon Vera

Distance 68.9% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 24.5% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 6.5% (norm 10.4%)

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

Ben Rothwell

Head 86.1% (norm 79.2%) · Body 8.7% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 5.2% (norm 7.6%)

Brandon Vera

Head 56.7% (norm 79.2%) · Body 19.8% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 23.5% (norm 9.7%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Rothwell L/AAccHeavyweight med Vera L/AAccLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 537 / 1358 39.5% 40.1% 289 / 621 46.5% 41.4%
In the clinch 86 / 130 66.2% 70.6% 171 / 221 77.4% 70.9%
On the ground 58 / 84 69.0% 70.2% 43 / 59 72.9% 72.3%
BY TARGET
To the head 496 / 1354 36.6% 38.9% 182 / 511 35.6% 38.9%
To the body 109 / 136 80.1% 76.8% 141 / 178 79.2% 71.9%
To the legs 76 / 82 92.7% 87.8% 180 / 212 84.9% 81.8%

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 (Heavyweight: 93 fighters · Light 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 Rothwell L/AOpp accHeavyweight med vs Vera L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 736 / 1373 53.6% 40.7% 193 / 572 33.7% 40.4%
In the clinch 57 / 94 60.6% 70.6% 198 / 284 69.7% 68.7%
On the ground 96 / 141 68.1% 72.0% 89 / 154 57.8% 70.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 557 / 1234 45.1% 38.8% 283 / 764 37.0% 37.5%
To the body 246 / 281 87.5% 75.1% 95 / 118 80.5% 72.3%
To the legs 86 / 93 92.5% 84.4% 102 / 128 79.7% 83.0%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

932.1% acc · 0.79/15 · norm 0.95
Takedowns landed
853.3% acc · 0.73/15 · norm 0.87
1659.3% def · norm 64.3%
Takedowns stopped
2960.4% def · norm 66.7%
32:1718.9% of cage time · norm 17.2%
Control time
26:4016.3% of cage time · norm 16.5%
19:491:44 per 15 · norm 2:28
Time under control
62:085:40 per 15 · norm 2:48
60.53/15 · norm 0.16
Submission attempts
20.18/15 · norm 0.27

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.