BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Benson Henderson vs.
Rafael Dos Anjos

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
21-15-0 Rafael Dos Anjos · 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
21-15-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
42
AgeΔ 1 yrs
41
5'9"
HeightΔ 1"
5'8"
70"
ReachΔ 0"
70"
Southpaw
Stance
Southpaw
128.3
Layoff (months)Δ 107 mo
21.3
WWLLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWL
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.

Benson Henderson is hard to hit — absorbs 1.92 sig. strikes per minute, vs a 3.37 Lightweight norm.
Rafael Dos Anjos hunts takedowns — 1.95 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Benson Henderson hunts takedowns — 1.90 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 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

Rafael Dos Anjos

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 2115
Tier 3 — regional circuit 102

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.02 · 21 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 48 documented bouts

In the UFC: 16-14 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

8263.27/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
18223.48/min · norm 3.42
4851.92/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
16923.23/min · norm 3.37
45.9%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
47.1%norm 43.5%
64.6%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
60.2%norm 56.3%
30.18/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
70.20/15 · norm 0.25

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%)

Rafael Dos Anjos

Distance 79.0% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 10.5% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 10.5% (norm 8.0%)

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%)

Rafael Dos Anjos

Head 74.7% (norm 78.2%) · Body 15.2% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 10.1% (norm 7.9%)

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 Anjos L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 520 / 1340 38.8% 37.9% 1224 / 3059 40.0% 37.9%
In the clinch 154 / 222 69.4% 67.3% 321 / 407 78.9% 67.3%
On the ground 152 / 239 63.6% 69.1% 277 / 405 68.4% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 362 / 1203 30.1% 35.0% 1063 / 2890 36.8% 35.0%
To the body 247 / 323 76.5% 69.1% 434 / 589 73.7% 69.1%
To the legs 217 / 275 78.9% 81.9% 325 / 392 82.9% 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 Henderson L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Anjos L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 364 / 1172 31.1% 38.9% 1334 / 3750 35.6% 38.9%
In the clinch 104 / 157 66.2% 68.6% 235 / 324 72.5% 68.6%
On the ground 17 / 40 42.5% 68.0% 123 / 181 68.0% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 216 / 984 22.0% 35.1% 1102 / 3462 31.8% 35.1%
To the body 166 / 250 66.4% 68.1% 352 / 530 66.4% 68.1%
To the legs 103 / 135 76.3% 81.5% 238 / 263 90.5% 81.5%
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
6835.6% acc · 1.95/15 · norm 1.38
5365.4% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
9154.8% def · norm 64.0%
64:5825.7% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
136:4526.1% of cage time · norm 19.5%
29:261:44 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
125:273:35 per 15 · norm 2:46
100.59/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
200.57/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.