BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Benson Henderson vs.
Brandon Thatch

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

11-3-0 Benson Henderson · UFC
2-4-0 Brandon Thatch · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

11-3-0
UFC record
2-4-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
42.7
AgeΔ 1.6 yrs
41.1
5'9"
HeightΔ 5"
6'2"
70"
ReachΔ 4"
74"
Southpaw
Stance
Switch
128.3
Layoff (months)Δ 13.1 mo
115.2
WWLLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLLW
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.

Brandon Thatch carries real power — 1.02 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.38 Welterweight norm.
Brandon Thatch is a submission threat — 0.68 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Welterweight norm.
Benson Henderson is hard to hit — absorbs 1.92 sig. strikes per minute, vs a 3.37 Lightweight 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.

Benson Henderson

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

In the UFC: 10-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.5 wins over .500

Brandon Thatch

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

In the UFC: 0-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.3 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

8263.27/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
1192.70/min · norm 3.17
4851.92/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
1603.63/min · norm 3.06
45.9%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
42.8%norm 44.9%
64.6%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
52.8%norm 55.25%
30.18/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
31.02/15 · norm 0.38

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

Benson Henderson

Distance 74.4% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 12.3% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 13.3% (norm 8.0%)

Brandon Thatch

Distance 80.2% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 15.5% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 4.3% (norm 8.1%)

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

Benson Henderson

Head 66.8% (norm 78.2%) · Body 17.9% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 15.3% (norm 7.9%)

Brandon Thatch

Head 71.9% (norm 78.2%) · Body 16.2% (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 Henderson L/AAccLightweight med Thatch L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 520 / 1340 38.8% 37.9% 79 / 223 35.4% 38.6%
In the clinch 154 / 222 69.4% 67.3% 31 / 43 72.1% 67.8%
On the ground 152 / 239 63.6% 69.1% 9 / 12 too few to rate 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 362 / 1203 30.1% 35.0% 63 / 200 31.5% 37.2%
To the body 247 / 323 76.5% 69.1% 31 / 45 68.9% 70.7%
To the legs 217 / 275 78.9% 81.9% 25 / 33 75.8% 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 (Lightweight: 201 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 Henderson L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Thatch L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 364 / 1172 31.1% 38.9% 79 / 227 34.8% 39.0%
In the clinch 104 / 157 66.2% 68.6% 26 / 38 68.4% 68.9%
On the ground 17 / 40 42.5% 68.0% 55 / 74 74.3% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 216 / 984 22.0% 35.1% 107 / 267 40.1% 35.6%
To the body 166 / 250 66.4% 68.1% 36 / 48 75.0% 69.6%
To the legs 103 / 135 76.3% 81.5% 17 / 24 too few to rate 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

3249.2% acc · 1.90/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
466.7% acc · 1.36/15 · norm 1.27
5365.4% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
850.0% def · norm 63.9%
64:5825.7% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
1:323.5% of cage time · norm 18.5%
29:261:44 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
17:385:59 per 15 · norm 3:15
100.59/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
20.68/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.