BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Jake Matthews vs.
Vagner Rocha

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

16-8-0 Jake Matthews · UFC
1-3-0 Vagner Rocha · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

16-8-0
UFC record
1-3-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
32
AgeΔ 12.2 yrs
44.2
5'11"
HeightΔ 1"
5'10"
73"
ReachΔ 0"
73"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
2.2
Layoff (months)Δ 138.7 mo
140.9
WLWWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWL
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.

Vagner Rocha is a submission threat — 1.86 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.49 Lightweight norm.
Jake Matthews is a submission threat — 0.71 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Welterweight norm.
Jake Matthews owns the mat — in control 26% of cage time, vs a 18% Welterweight 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.

Jake Matthews

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 168
Tier 3 — regional circuit 70

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.36 · 16 tier-1/2 wins · 14 finish wins over 31 documented bouts

In the UFC: 8-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.8 wins over .500

Vagner Rocha

Full career not yet synced for Vagner Rocha — 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 +0.5 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

9253.36/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
852.64/min · norm 3.42
7102.58/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
1454.50/min · norm 3.37
44.5%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
42.5%norm 43.5%
60.6%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
48.0%norm 56.3%
60.33/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.25

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

Jake Matthews

Distance 82.1% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 4.8% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 13.1% (norm 8.1%)

Vagner Rocha

Distance 91.5% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 0.5% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 8.0% (norm 8.0%)

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

Jake Matthews

Head 82.6% (norm 78.2%) · Body 11.5% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 5.9% (norm 8.4%)

Vagner Rocha

Head 77.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.0% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 14.0% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Matthews L/AAccWelterweight med Rocha L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 664 / 1706 38.9% 38.6% 74 / 183 40.4% 37.9%
In the clinch 67 / 100 67.0% 67.8% 1 / 1 too few to rate 67.3%
On the ground 194 / 273 71.1% 67.2% 10 / 16 too few to rate 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 665 / 1718 38.7% 37.2% 56 / 154 36.4% 35.0%
To the body 161 / 239 67.4% 70.7% 9 / 18 too few to rate 69.1%
To the legs 99 / 122 81.1% 82.9% 20 / 28 71.4% 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 (Welterweight: 182 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 Matthews L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Rocha L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 517 / 1515 34.1% 39.0% 127 / 257 49.4% 38.9%
In the clinch 98 / 140 70.0% 68.9% 5 / 7 too few to rate 68.6%
On the ground 95 / 147 64.6% 68.0% 13 / 15 too few to rate 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 434 / 1402 31.0% 35.6% 65 / 181 35.9% 35.1%
To the body 124 / 199 62.3% 69.6% 19 / 28 67.9% 68.1%
To the legs 152 / 201 75.6% 82.1% 61 / 70 87.1% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

2541.7% acc · 1.36/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
333.3% acc · 1.40/15 · norm 1.38
2866.7% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
250.0% def · norm 64.0%
72:5326.4% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
7:0221.8% of cage time · norm 19.5%
40:352:12 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
2:151:02 per 15 · norm 2:46
130.71/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
41.86/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.