BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Rafael Dos Anjos vs.
Geoff Neal

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

21-15-0 Rafael Dos Anjos · UFC
8-6-0 Geoff Neal · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

21-15-0
UFC record
8-6-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
41.8
AgeΔ 5.9 yrs
35.9
5'8"
HeightΔ 3"
5'11"
70"
ReachΔ 5"
75"
Southpaw
Stance
Southpaw
21.3
Layoff (months)Δ 15.8 mo
5.5
LLLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWLL
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.

Geoff Neal carries real power — 0.87 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.38 Welterweight norm.
Geoff Neal absorbs 5.56 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.06 Welterweight norm — hittable.
Rafael Dos Anjos hunts takedowns — 1.95 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight 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.

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: 16-14 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.2 wins over .500

Geoff Neal

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 96
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 30
Tier 3 — regional circuit 42

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.07 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 24 documented bouts

In the UFC: 6-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.3 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

18223.48/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
6875.00/min · norm 3.17
16923.23/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
7645.56/min · norm 3.06
47.1%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
50.7%norm 44.9%
60.2%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
57.0%norm 55.25%
70.20/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
80.87/15 · norm 0.38

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

Rafael Dos Anjos

Distance 79.0% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 10.5% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 10.5% (norm 8.0%)

Geoff Neal

Distance 86.9% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 8.0% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 5.1% (norm 8.1%)

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

Rafael Dos Anjos

Head 74.7% (norm 78.2%) · Body 15.2% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 10.1% (norm 7.9%)

Geoff Neal

Head 90.5% (norm 78.2%) · Body 6.1% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 3.5% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Anjos L/AAccLightweight med Neal L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1224 / 3059 40.0% 37.9% 566 / 1177 48.1% 38.6%
In the clinch 321 / 407 78.9% 67.3% 72 / 108 66.7% 67.8%
On the ground 277 / 405 68.4% 69.1% 49 / 69 71.0% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 1063 / 2890 36.8% 35.0% 585 / 1225 47.8% 37.2%
To the body 434 / 589 73.7% 69.1% 58 / 82 70.7% 70.7%
To the legs 325 / 392 82.9% 81.9% 44 / 47 93.6% 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 (Lightweight: 201 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 Anjos L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Neal L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1334 / 3750 35.6% 38.9% 684 / 1658 41.3% 39.0%
In the clinch 235 / 324 72.5% 68.6% 73 / 104 70.2% 68.9%
On the ground 123 / 181 68.0% 68.0% 7 / 13 too few to rate 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 1102 / 3462 31.8% 35.1% 477 / 1409 33.9% 35.6%
To the body 352 / 530 66.4% 68.1% 208 / 280 74.3% 69.6%
To the legs 238 / 263 90.5% 81.5% 79 / 86 91.9% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

6835.6% acc · 1.95/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
545.5% acc · 0.55/15 · norm 1.27
9154.8% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
2689.7% def · norm 63.9%
136:4526.1% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
19:5514.5% of cage time · norm 18.5%
125:273:35 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
7:280:48 per 15 · norm 3:15
200.57/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
10.11/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.