Joaquin Buckley vs. Stephen Thompson
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Joaquin Buckley
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 14 | 8 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 2 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 5 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.4 · 16 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 29 documented bouts
In the UFC: 9-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.4 wins over .500
Stephen Thompson
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 12 | 9 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 5 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.07 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 27 documented bouts
In the UFC: 10-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.9 wins over .500
Striking
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Joaquin Buckley
Distance 85.7% (norm 80.7%) · Clinch 3.6% (norm 9.6%) · Ground 10.7% (norm 8.1%)
Stephen Thompson
Distance 93.2% (norm 80.7%) · Clinch 4.2% (norm 9.6%) · Ground 2.6% (norm 8.1%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Joaquin Buckley
Head 79.7% (norm 78.3%) · Body 15.8% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 4.5% (norm 8.0%)
Stephen Thompson
Head 79.0% (norm 78.3%) · Body 15.4% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 5.6% (norm 8.0%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Buckley L/A | Acc | Welterweight med | Thompson L/A | Acc | Welterweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 554 / 1750 | 31.7% | 38.5% | 1158 / 2618 | 44.2% | 38.5% |
| In the clinch | 46 / 73 | 63.0% | 67.8% | 88 / 119 | 73.9% | 67.8% |
| On the ground | 137 / 218 | 62.8% | 67.0% | 47 / 73 | 64.4% | 67.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 455 / 1626 | 28.0% | 36.4% | 857 / 2220 | 38.6% | 36.4% |
| To the body | 206 / 323 | 63.8% | 70.7% | 305 / 432 | 70.6% | 70.7% |
| To the legs | 76 / 92 | 82.6% | 83.0% | 131 / 158 | 82.9% | 83.0% |
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: 180 fighters · Welterweight: 180 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 Buckley L/A | Opp acc | Welterweight med | vs Thompson L/A | Opp acc | Welterweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 461 / 1216 | 37.9% | 39.1% | 666 / 1731 | 38.5% | 39.1% |
| In the clinch | 57 / 74 | 77.0% | 68.9% | 146 / 204 | 71.6% | 68.9% |
| On the ground | 138 / 265 | 52.1% | 68.0% | 147 / 191 | 77.0% | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 440 / 1251 | 35.2% | 35.6% | 512 / 1495 | 34.2% | 35.6% |
| To the body | 144 / 213 | 67.6% | 69.6% | 172 / 276 | 62.3% | 69.6% |
| To the legs | 72 / 91 | 79.1% | 82.2% | 275 / 355 | 77.5% | 82.2% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Thompson has more cage time on record.