BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Jeremy Stephens vs.
Darren Elkins

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

15-20-0 (1 NC) Jeremy Stephens · UFC
19-11-0 Darren Elkins · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

15-20-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
19-11-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
40
AgeΔ 2 yrs
42
5'9"
HeightΔ 1"
5'10"
71"
ReachΔ 0"
71"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
2.9
Layoff (months)Δ 12.9 mo
15.8
LLLLL
Last 5 (newest first)
LWWLW
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.

Jeremy Stephens carries real power — 0.66 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.25 Lightweight norm.
Darren Elkins hunts takedowns — 2.87 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.19 Featherweight norm.
Darren Elkins is a submission threat — 1.07 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.46 Featherweight 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.

Jeremy Stephens

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1622
Tier 3 — regional circuit 131

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.68 · 16 tier-1/2 wins · 21 finish wins over 53 documented bouts

In the UFC: 8-17 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.5 wins over .500

Darren Elkins

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1911
Tier 3 — regional circuit 101

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.15 · 19 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 41 documented bouts

In the UFC: 13-8 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

12813.13/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
11903.40/min · norm 3.54
13273.25/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
11693.34/min · norm 3.47
40.8%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
38.4%norm 45.0%
57.9%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
51.2%norm 54.85%
180.66/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
20.09/15 · norm 0.29

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

Jeremy Stephens

Distance 84.0% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 5.6% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 10.4% (norm 8.0%)

Darren Elkins

Distance 75.8% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 11.7% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 12.4% (norm 6.5%)

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

Jeremy Stephens

Head 77.1% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.8% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 13.1% (norm 7.9%)

Darren Elkins

Head 86.2% (norm 77.4%) · Body 11.6% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 2.2% (norm 7.8%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Stephens L/AAccLightweight med Elkins L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 942 / 2637 35.7% 37.9% 685 / 2348 29.2% 40.9%
In the clinch 126 / 175 72.0% 67.3% 242 / 363 66.7% 70.8%
On the ground 213 / 326 65.3% 69.1% 263 / 385 68.3% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 752 / 2420 31.1% 35.0% 904 / 2670 33.9% 37.2%
To the body 222 / 307 72.3% 69.1% 235 / 359 65.5% 68.2%
To the legs 307 / 411 74.7% 81.9% 51 / 67 76.1% 80.7%

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 · Featherweight: 126 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 Stephens L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Elkins L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1035 / 2709 38.2% 38.9% 817 / 1924 42.5% 39.2%
In the clinch 113 / 165 68.5% 68.6% 166 / 227 73.1% 70.3%
On the ground 179 / 278 64.4% 68.0% 186 / 244 76.2% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 812 / 2468 32.9% 35.1% 853 / 1992 42.8% 35.9%
To the body 238 / 349 68.2% 68.1% 182 / 245 74.3% 67.9%
To the legs 277 / 335 82.7% 81.5% 134 / 158 84.8% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

3038.5% acc · 1.10/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
6734.0% acc · 2.87/15 · norm 1.19
7861.9% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
3256.1% def · norm 61.5%
71:3117.5% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
129:0236.8% of cage time · norm 16.7%
91:283:21 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
53:462:18 per 15 · norm 3:12
110.40/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
251.07/15 · norm 0.46

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.