BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Cung Le vs.
Rich Franklin

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

2-2-0 Cung Le · UFC
14-6-0 Rich Franklin · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

2-2-0
UFC record
14-6-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
54.2
AgeΔ 2.4 yrs
51.8
5'9"
HeightΔ 4"
6'1"
70"
ReachΔ 6"
76"
Southpaw
Stance
Southpaw
143.4
Layoff (months)Δ 21.4 mo
164.8
LWWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LWLWL
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.

Rich Franklin carries real power — 0.74 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.
Cung Le rarely shoots — 0.70 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight norm.
Cung Le absorbs 4.60 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.20 Middleweight norm — hittable.
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.

Cung Le

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

In the UFC: 1-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.8 wins over .500

Rich Franklin

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

In the UFC: 9-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.5 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

1333.09/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
8564.23/min · norm 3.25
1984.60/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
4152.05/min · norm 3.20
41.6%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
43.5%norm 47.4%
62.5%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
63.4%norm 53.8%
10.35/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
100.74/15 · norm 0.32

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

Cung Le

Distance 95.9% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 3.8% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 0.3% (norm 10.3%)

Rich Franklin

Distance 79.9% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 11.5% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 8.6% (norm 10.3%)

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

Cung Le

Head 65.3% (norm 78.0%) · Body 25.6% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 9.1% (norm 8.4%)

Rich Franklin

Head 81.6% (norm 78.0%) · Body 12.8% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 5.5% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Le L/AAccMiddleweight med Franklin L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 124 / 307 40.4% 40.5% 596 / 1575 37.8% 40.5%
In the clinch 9 / 12 too few to rate 70.3% 151 / 226 66.8% 70.3%
On the ground 0 / 1 too few to rate 69.1% 109 / 169 64.5% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 53 / 209 25.4% 38.9% 559 / 1608 34.8% 38.9%
To the body 55 / 82 67.1% 71.7% 198 / 253 78.3% 71.7%
To the legs 25 / 29 86.2% 83.3% 99 / 109 90.8% 83.3%

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 (Middleweight: 174 fighters · Middleweight: 174 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 Le L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Franklin L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 173 / 488 35.5% 39.5% 247 / 877 28.2% 39.5%
In the clinch 23 / 36 63.9% 70.9% 120 / 169 71.0% 70.9%
On the ground 2 / 4 too few to rate 69.0% 48 / 88 54.5% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 124 / 423 29.3% 37.9% 231 / 879 26.3% 37.9%
To the body 41 / 58 70.7% 71.3% 109 / 162 67.3% 71.3%
To the legs 33 / 47 70.2% 82.1% 75 / 93 80.6% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

266.7% acc · 0.70/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
1463.6% acc · 1.04/15 · norm 1.42
2100.0% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
3464.2% def · norm 63.1%
1:152.9% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
37:3818.6% of cage time · norm 19.75%
1:270:30 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
25:391:54 per 15 · norm 3:00
00.00/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
20.15/15 · norm 0.47

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.