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Leon Edwards vs. Rafael Dos Anjos

UFC 14-5-0 (1 NC) vs. 21-16-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
14-5-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
21-16-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
35
AgeΔ 6 yrs
41
6'2"
HeightΔ 6"
5'8"
74"
ReachΔ 4"
70"
Southpaw
Stance
Southpaw
11.1
Layoff (months)Δ 10.5 mo
0.6
LLLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLLW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Rafael Dos Anjos hunts takedowns — 1.92 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.34 Lightweight norm.
Rafael Dos Anjos owns the mat — in control 26% of cage time, vs a 19% Lightweight norm.
Leon Edwards is accurate with strikes at range — lands 49%, vs a 38% Welterweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

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

Rafael Dos Anjos

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 2115
Tier 3 — regional circuit 102

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.02 · 21 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 48 documented bouts

In the UFC: 16-15 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.1 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

8732.60/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
18483.48/min · norm 3.44
8192.44/min · norm 3.08
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
17283.25/min · norm 3.38
54.4%norm 44.75%
Striking accuracy
47.0%norm 43.65%
52.8%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
60.2%norm 56.3%
50.22/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
70.20/15 · norm 0.25

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

Leon Edwards

Distance 83.7% (norm 80.7%) · Clinch 8.9% (norm 9.6%) · Ground 7.3% (norm 8.1%)

Rafael Dos Anjos

Distance 79.3% (norm 83.1%) · Clinch 10.4% (norm 7.3%) · Ground 10.3% (norm 8.0%)

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

Leon Edwards

Head 71.3% (norm 78.3%) · Body 16.6% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 12.1% (norm 8.0%)

Rafael Dos Anjos

Head 74.8% (norm 78.0%) · Body 15.2% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 10.0% (norm 8.0%)

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 Dos Anjos L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 662 / 1345 49.2% 38.5% 1249 / 3117 40.1% 38.3%
In the clinch 119 / 143 83.2% 67.8% 321 / 407 78.9% 67.5%
On the ground 92 / 118 78.0% 67.0% 278 / 406 68.5% 68.8%
BY TARGET
To the head 490 / 1145 42.8% 36.4% 1083 / 2939 36.8% 35.1%
To the body 206 / 266 77.4% 70.7% 440 / 599 73.5% 69.1%
To the legs 177 / 195 90.8% 83.0% 325 / 392 82.9% 81.8%

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 · Lightweight: 204 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 Dos Anjos L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 594 / 1434 41.4% 39.1% 1359 / 3813 35.6% 38.8%
In the clinch 118 / 156 75.6% 68.9% 235 / 325 72.3% 68.6%
On the ground 107 / 144 74.3% 68.0% 134 / 203 66.0% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 503 / 1295 38.8% 35.6% 1129 / 3538 31.9% 35.2%
To the body 192 / 261 73.6% 69.6% 359 / 538 66.7% 68.2%
To the legs 124 / 178 69.7% 82.2% 240 / 265 90.6% 81.5%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
2837.3% acc · 1.25/15 · norm 1.31
Takedowns landed
6835.6% acc · 1.92/15 · norm 1.34
7963.7% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
9154.8% def · norm 63.7%
70:2621.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
136:4525.7% of cage time · norm 18.95%
89:133:59 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control lower is better
128:113:37 per 15 · norm 2:50
80.36/15 · norm 0.44
Submission attempts
200.56/15 · norm 0.48

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