BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Niklas Stolze vs.
Benoit Saint Denis

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

0-3-0 Niklas Stolze · UFC
9-4-0 Benoit Saint Denis · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

0-3-0
UFC record
9-4-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
33.6
AgeΔ 3 yrs
30.6
6'1"
HeightΔ 2"
5'11"
74"
ReachΔ 1"
73"
Switch
Stance
Southpaw
50.1
Layoff (months)Δ 49.2 mo
0.9
LLL
Last 5 (newest first)
LWWWW
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.

Benoit Saint Denis is a submission threat — 1.73 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.49 Lightweight norm.
Benoit Saint Denis carries real power — 0.86 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.25 Lightweight norm.
Niklas Stolze rarely shoots — 0.66 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.

Niklas Stolze

Full career not yet synced for Niklas Stolze — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record -0.3 wins over .500

Benoit Saint Denis

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 94
Tier 3 — regional circuit 80

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.53 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 17 finish wins over 22 documented bouts

In the UFC: 6-4 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

482.12/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
4845.58/min · norm 3.42
512.25/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
3554.09/min · norm 3.37
48.5%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
58.5%norm 43.5%
49.0%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
42.0%norm 56.3%
00.00/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
50.86/15 · norm 0.25

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

Niklas Stolze

Distance 88.9% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 7.1% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 4.0% (norm 8.1%)

Benoit Saint Denis

Distance 59.2% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 12.7% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 28.1% (norm 8.0%)

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

Niklas Stolze

Head 57.6% (norm 78.2%) · Body 14.1% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 28.3% (norm 8.4%)

Benoit Saint Denis

Head 74.2% (norm 78.2%) · Body 19.3% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 6.5% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Stolze L/AAccWelterweight med Denis L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 40 / 88 45.5% 38.6% 245 / 490 50.0% 37.9%
In the clinch 5 / 7 too few to rate 67.8% 87 / 105 82.9% 67.3%
On the ground 3 / 4 too few to rate 67.2% 152 / 233 65.2% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 20 / 57 35.1% 37.2% 304 / 614 49.5% 35.0%
To the body 10 / 14 too few to rate 70.7% 128 / 160 80.0% 69.1%
To the legs 18 / 28 64.3% 82.9% 52 / 54 96.3% 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 (Welterweight: 182 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 Stolze L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Denis L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 36 / 81 44.4% 39.0% 259 / 489 53.0% 38.9%
In the clinch 9 / 11 too few to rate 68.9% 55 / 79 69.6% 68.6%
On the ground 6 / 8 too few to rate 68.0% 41 / 44 93.2% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 37 / 81 45.7% 35.6% 241 / 479 50.3% 35.1%
To the body 8 / 12 too few to rate 69.6% 78 / 94 83.0% 68.1%
To the legs 6 / 7 too few to rate 82.1% 36 / 39 92.3% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

1100.0% acc · 0.66/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
2435.3% acc · 4.15/15 · norm 1.38
1055.6% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
1372.2% def · norm 64.0%
0:211.5% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
40:5847.2% of cage time · norm 19.5%
12:558:32 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
10:191:46 per 15 · norm 2:46
10.66/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
101.73/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.