BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Leon Edwards vs.
Belal Muhammad

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

14-5-0 (1 NC) Leon Edwards · UFC
15-6-0 (1 NC) Belal Muhammad · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

14-5-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
15-6-0 (1 NC)
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
34.9
AgeΔ 3.2 yrs
38.1
6'2"
HeightΔ 3"
5'11"
74"
ReachΔ 2"
72"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
8.7
Layoff (months)Δ 6.7 mo
2
LLLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWW
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.

Belal Muhammad hunts takedowns — 1.98 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Belal Muhammad outworks the Welterweight division — 4.36 sig. strikes landed per minute, vs a 3.17 norm.
Leon Edwards is accurate with strikes at range — lands 49%, vs a 39% 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.

Leon Edwards

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 145
Tier 3 — regional circuit 81

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.33 · 14 tier-1/2 wins · 10 finish wins over 29 documented bouts

In the UFC: 10-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.2 wins over .500

Belal Muhammad

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 176
Tier 3 — regional circuit 70

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.39 · 17 tier-1/2 wins · 6 finish wins over 31 documented bouts

In the UFC: 11-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.5 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

8732.60/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
15154.36/min · norm 3.17
8192.44/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
13623.92/min · norm 3.06
54.4%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
42.4%norm 44.9%
52.8%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
55.2%norm 55.25%
50.22/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.38

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

Leon Edwards

Distance 83.7% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 8.9% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 7.3% (norm 8.1%)

Belal Muhammad

Distance 91.5% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 3.5% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 5.0% (norm 8.1%)

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

Leon Edwards

Head 71.3% (norm 78.2%) · Body 16.6% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 12.1% (norm 8.4%)

Belal Muhammad

Head 86.6% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.1% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 4.3% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Edwards L/AAccWelterweight med Muhammad L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 662 / 1345 49.2% 38.6% 1324 / 3270 40.5% 38.6%
In the clinch 119 / 143 83.2% 67.8% 72 / 124 58.1% 67.8%
On the ground 92 / 118 78.0% 67.2% 119 / 178 66.9% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 490 / 1145 42.8% 37.2% 1166 / 3095 37.7% 37.2%
To the body 206 / 266 77.4% 70.7% 219 / 324 67.6% 70.7%
To the legs 177 / 195 90.8% 82.9% 130 / 153 85.0% 82.9%

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 · Welterweight: 182 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 Edwards L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Muhammad L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 594 / 1434 41.4% 39.0% 1257 / 2896 43.4% 39.0%
In the clinch 118 / 156 75.6% 68.9% 68 / 86 79.1% 68.9%
On the ground 107 / 144 74.3% 68.0% 37 / 57 64.9% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 503 / 1295 38.8% 35.6% 780 / 2308 33.8% 35.6%
To the body 192 / 261 73.6% 69.6% 245 / 350 70.0% 69.6%
To the legs 124 / 178 69.7% 82.1% 337 / 381 88.5% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

2837.3% acc · 1.25/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
4635.9% acc · 1.98/15 · norm 1.27
7963.7% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
4890.6% def · norm 63.9%
70:2621.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
76:1821.9% of cage time · norm 18.5%
89:133:59 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
18:530:48 per 15 · norm 3:15
80.36/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
30.13/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.