BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Journey Newson vs.
Marcus McGhee

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

1-4-0 (1 NC) Journey Newson · UFC
5-1-0 Marcus McGhee · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

1-4-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
5-1-0
Bantamweight
Division (benchmark)
Bantamweight
37.4
AgeΔ 1.2 yrs
36.2
5'5"
HeightΔ 3"
5'8"
67"
ReachΔ 2"
69"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
39.3
Layoff (months)Δ 37.3 mo
2
LLWLNC
Last 5 (newest first)
WLWWW
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.

Marcus McGhee carries real power — 0.72 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.30 Bantamweight norm.
Marcus McGhee rarely shoots — 0.24 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.12 Bantamweight norm.
Journey Newson rarely shoots — 0.56 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.12 Bantamweight 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.

Journey Newson

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

In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.2 wins over .500

Marcus McGhee

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 51
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 11
Tier 3 — regional circuit 50

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.56 · 6 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 13 documented bouts

In the UFC: 2-1 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

1412.64/min · norm 3.52
Sig. strikes landed
3425.44/min · norm 3.52
1372.57/min · norm 3.58
Sig. strikes absorbed
2293.64/min · norm 3.58
32.6%norm 43.4%
Striking accuracy
43.6%norm 43.4%
65.0%norm 56.6%
Striking defense
56.5%norm 56.6%
10.28/15 · norm 0.30
Knockdowns
30.72/15 · norm 0.30

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

Journey Newson

Distance 96.8% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 1.2% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 2.1% (norm 6.5%)

Marcus McGhee

Distance 96.3% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 2.0% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 1.7% (norm 6.5%)

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

Journey Newson

Head 68.8% (norm 77.4%) · Body 16.2% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 15.0% (norm 8.4%)

Marcus McGhee

Head 80.4% (norm 77.4%) · Body 11.0% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 8.7% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Newson L/AAccBantamweight med McGhee L/AAccBantamweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 128 / 419 30.5% 39.0% 321 / 755 42.5% 39.0%
In the clinch 4 / 5 too few to rate 68.7% 10 / 16 too few to rate 68.7%
On the ground 9 / 9 too few to rate 70.2% 11 / 13 too few to rate 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 55 / 298 18.5% 34.9% 241 / 630 38.3% 34.9%
To the body 41 / 70 58.6% 66.8% 55 / 86 64.0% 66.8%
To the legs 45 / 65 69.2% 79.4% 46 / 68 67.6% 79.4%

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 (Bantamweight: 117 fighters · Bantamweight: 117 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 Newson L/AOpp accBantamweight med vs McGhee L/AOpp accBantamweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 113 / 359 31.5% 39.3% 202 / 488 41.4% 39.3%
In the clinch 14 / 20 too few to rate 70.4% 27 / 38 71.1% 70.4%
On the ground 10 / 12 too few to rate 72.4% 0 / 0 too few to rate 72.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 72 / 298 24.2% 34.9% 136 / 388 35.1% 34.9%
To the body 32 / 53 60.4% 66.0% 45 / 74 60.8% 66.0%
To the legs 33 / 40 82.5% 79.1% 48 / 64 75.0% 79.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

216.7% acc · 0.56/15 · norm 1.12
Takedowns landed
111.1% acc · 0.24/15 · norm 1.12
743.8% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
990.0% def · norm 66.7%
2:003.7% of cage time · norm 17.4%
Control time
2:534.6% of cage time · norm 17.4%
10:192:53 per 15 · norm 2:24
Time under control
5:151:15 per 15 · norm 2:24
10.28/15 · norm 0.28
Submission attempts
10.24/15 · norm 0.28

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.