BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Lerone Murphy vs.
Edson Barboza

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

9-1-1 Lerone Murphy · UFC
18-14-0 Edson Barboza · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

9-1-1
UFC record
18-14-0
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
35
AgeΔ 5.5 yrs
40.5
5'9"
HeightΔ 2"
5'11"
73"
ReachΔ 2"
75"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
4.5
Layoff (months)Δ 3.5 mo
8
LWWWW
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.

Edson Barboza carries real power — 0.63 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.25 Lightweight norm.
Edson Barboza rarely shoots — 0.43 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Lerone Murphy's takedown defense leaks — 44% stopped, vs a 62% Featherweight 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.

Lerone Murphy

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 91
Tier 3 — regional circuit 80

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.69 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 8 finish wins over 19 documented bouts

In the UFC: 7-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.3 wins over .500

Edson Barboza

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1814
Tier 3 — regional circuit 60

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.06 · 18 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 38 documented bouts

In the UFC: 13-12 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.2 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

7074.34/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
15864.14/min · norm 3.42
4322.65/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
17924.68/min · norm 3.37
51.1%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
44.7%norm 43.5%
60.4%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
55.7%norm 56.3%
30.28/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
160.63/15 · norm 0.25

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

Lerone Murphy

Distance 87.6% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 6.0% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 6.4% (norm 6.5%)

Edson Barboza

Distance 94.7% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 2.7% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 2.6% (norm 8.0%)

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

Lerone Murphy

Head 75.2% (norm 77.4%) · Body 15.6% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 9.2% (norm 7.8%)

Edson Barboza

Head 65.6% (norm 78.2%) · Body 20.3% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 14.1% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Murphy L/AAccFeatherweight med Barboza L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 577 / 1213 47.6% 40.9% 1447 / 3362 43.0% 37.9%
In the clinch 69 / 83 83.1% 70.8% 79 / 97 81.4% 67.3%
On the ground 61 / 88 69.3% 69.2% 60 / 92 65.2% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 449 / 1041 43.1% 37.2% 694 / 2329 29.8% 35.0%
To the body 152 / 216 70.4% 68.2% 500 / 720 69.4% 69.1%
To the legs 106 / 127 83.5% 80.7% 392 / 502 78.1% 81.9%

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 (Featherweight: 126 fighters · Lightweight: 201 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 Murphy L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Barboza L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 361 / 973 37.1% 39.2% 1445 / 3555 40.6% 38.9%
In the clinch 45 / 74 60.8% 70.3% 76 / 116 65.5% 68.6%
On the ground 26 / 44 59.1% 69.4% 271 / 373 72.7% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 246 / 832 29.6% 35.9% 1302 / 3359 38.8% 35.1%
To the body 108 / 152 71.1% 67.9% 244 / 387 63.0% 68.1%
To the legs 78 / 107 72.9% 81.5% 246 / 298 82.6% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

1354.2% acc · 1.20/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
1150.0% acc · 0.43/15 · norm 1.38
2644.1% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
7673.1% def · norm 64.0%
21:1313.0% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
24:396.4% of cage time · norm 19.5%
36:013:19 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
66:532:37 per 15 · norm 2:46
50.46/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
20.08/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.