BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Nah-Shon Burrell vs.
Stephen Thompson

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

1-1-0 Nah-Shon Burrell · UFC
12-9-1 Stephen Thompson · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

1-1-0
UFC record
12-9-1
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
36.5
AgeΔ 7 yrs
43.5
5'11"
HeightΔ 1"
6'0"
Reach
75"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
158.4
Layoff (months)Δ 145.6 mo
12.8
LW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWL
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.

Nah-Shon Burrell rarely shoots — 0.00 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Nah-Shon Burrell outworks the Welterweight division — 5.90 sig. strikes landed per minute, vs a 3.17 norm.
Stephen Thompson rarely shoots — 0.23 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 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.

Nah-Shon Burrell

Full career not yet synced for Nah-Shon Burrell — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 0-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.0 wins over .500

Stephen Thompson

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 129
Tier 3 — regional circuit 50

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.07 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 27 documented bouts

In the UFC: 10-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.9 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

1775.90/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
12934.05/min · norm 3.17
1133.77/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
9593.00/min · norm 3.06
52.5%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
46.0%norm 44.9%
54.1%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
54.9%norm 55.25%
00.00/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
100.47/15 · norm 0.38

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

Nah-Shon Burrell

Distance 72.7% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 17.8% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 9.5% (norm 8.1%)

Stephen Thompson

Distance 93.2% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 4.2% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 2.6% (norm 8.1%)

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

Nah-Shon Burrell

Head 79.5% (norm 78.2%) · Body 17.2% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 3.3% (norm 8.4%)

Stephen Thompson

Head 79.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 15.4% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 5.6% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Burrell L/AAccWelterweight med Thompson L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 104 / 245 42.4% 38.6% 1158 / 2618 44.2% 38.6%
In the clinch 45 / 60 75.0% 67.8% 88 / 119 73.9% 67.8%
On the ground 28 / 32 87.5% 67.2% 47 / 73 64.4% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 121 / 268 45.1% 37.2% 857 / 2220 38.6% 37.2%
To the body 45 / 58 77.6% 70.7% 305 / 432 70.6% 70.7%
To the legs 11 / 11 too few to rate 82.9% 131 / 158 82.9% 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 Burrell L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Thompson L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 92 / 212 43.4% 39.0% 666 / 1731 38.5% 39.0%
In the clinch 18 / 31 58.1% 68.9% 146 / 204 71.6% 68.9%
On the ground 3 / 3 too few to rate 68.0% 147 / 191 77.0% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 54 / 172 31.4% 35.6% 512 / 1495 34.2% 35.6%
To the body 36 / 47 76.6% 69.6% 172 / 276 62.3% 69.6%
To the legs 23 / 27 85.2% 82.1% 275 / 355 77.5% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

00.0% acc · 0.00/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
535.7% acc · 0.23/15 · norm 1.27
550.0% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
5063.3% def · norm 63.9%
3:0010.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
19:186.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
9:104:35 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
60:122:49 per 15 · norm 3:15
10.50/15 · 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 — Thompson has more cage time on record.

Next move

Let the engine settle it.