BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Leon Edwards vs.
Dominic Waters

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
0-3-0 Dominic Waters · 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
0-3-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
34.9
AgeΔ 2.4 yrs
37.3
6'2"
HeightΔ 1"
6'1"
74"
ReachΔ 5"
79"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
8.7
Layoff (months)Δ 114.2 mo
122.9
LLLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLL
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.

Dominic Waters hunts takedowns — 4.07 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Dominic Waters owns the mat — in control 41% of cage time, vs a 18% Welterweight 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

Dominic Waters

Full career not yet synced for Dominic Waters — 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 +3.0 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
160.48/min · norm 3.17
8192.44/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
842.53/min · norm 3.06
54.4%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
23.2%norm 44.9%
52.8%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
39.6%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%)

Dominic Waters

Distance 92.8% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 4.3% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 2.9% (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%)

Dominic Waters

Head 91.3% (norm 78.2%) · Body 4.3% (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 Waters L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 662 / 1345 49.2% 38.6% 13 / 64 20.3% 38.6%
In the clinch 119 / 143 83.2% 67.8% 1 / 3 too few to rate 67.8%
On the ground 92 / 118 78.0% 67.2% 2 / 2 too few to rate 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 490 / 1145 42.8% 37.2% 13 / 63 20.6% 37.2%
To the body 206 / 266 77.4% 70.7% 3 / 3 too few to rate 70.7%
To the legs 177 / 195 90.8% 82.9% 0 / 3 too few to rate 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 Waters L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 594 / 1434 41.4% 39.0% 29 / 69 42.0% 39.0%
In the clinch 118 / 156 75.6% 68.9% 12 / 12 too few to rate 68.9%
On the ground 107 / 144 74.3% 68.0% 43 / 58 74.1% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 503 / 1295 38.8% 35.6% 51 / 100 51.0% 35.6%
To the body 192 / 261 73.6% 69.6% 26 / 30 86.7% 69.6%
To the legs 124 / 178 69.7% 82.1% 7 / 9 too few to rate 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
952.9% acc · 4.07/15 · norm 1.27
7963.7% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
228.6% def · norm 63.9%
70:2621.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
13:3440.9% of cage time · norm 18.5%
89:133:59 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
11:115:03 per 15 · norm 3:15
80.36/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.