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Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Tarec Saffiedine

UFC 21-16-0 vs. 2-4-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
21-16-0
UFC record
2-4-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
41
AgeΔ 1 yrs
40
5'8"
HeightΔ 2"
5'10"
70"
ReachΔ 0"
70"
Southpaw
Stance
Switch
0.6
Layoff (months)Δ 111.5 mo
112.1
LLLLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Tarec Saffiedine rarely shoots — 0.62 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.31 Welterweight norm.
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.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

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

Tarec Saffiedine

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 24
Tier 3 — regional circuit 143

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.63 · 2 tier-1/2 wins · 6 finish wins over 23 documented bouts

In the UFC: 2-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.3 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

18483.48/min · norm 3.44
Sig. strikes landed
3603.73/min · norm 3.17
17283.25/min · norm 3.38
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
3743.88/min · norm 3.08
47.0%norm 43.65%
Striking accuracy
45.9%norm 44.75%
60.2%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
56.7%norm 55.25%
70.20/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
30.47/15 · norm 0.38

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

Rafael Dos Anjos

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

Tarec Saffiedine

Distance 89.2% (norm 80.7%) · Clinch 9.9% (norm 9.6%) · Ground 0.9% (norm 8.1%)

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

Rafael Dos Anjos

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

Tarec Saffiedine

Head 74.7% (norm 78.3%) · Body 9.8% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 15.4% (norm 8.0%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Dos Anjos L/AAccLightweight med Saffiedine L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1249 / 3117 40.1% 38.3% 301 / 699 43.1% 38.5%
In the clinch 321 / 407 78.9% 67.5% 53 / 78 67.9% 67.8%
On the ground 278 / 406 68.5% 68.8% 6 / 7 too few to rate 67.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 1083 / 2939 36.8% 35.1% 196 / 586 33.4% 36.4%
To the body 440 / 599 73.5% 69.1% 62 / 77 80.5% 70.7%
To the legs 325 / 392 82.9% 81.8% 102 / 121 84.3% 83.0%

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: 204 fighters · Welterweight: 180 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 Dos Anjos L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Saffiedine L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1359 / 3813 35.6% 38.8% 288 / 744 38.7% 39.1%
In the clinch 235 / 325 72.3% 68.6% 72 / 101 71.3% 68.9%
On the ground 134 / 203 66.0% 68.0% 14 / 18 too few to rate 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 1129 / 3538 31.9% 35.2% 233 / 677 34.4% 35.6%
To the body 359 / 538 66.7% 68.2% 108 / 148 73.0% 69.6%
To the legs 240 / 265 90.6% 81.5% 33 / 38 86.8% 82.2%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
6835.6% acc · 1.92/15 · norm 1.34
Takedowns landed
433.3% acc · 0.62/15 · norm 1.31
9154.8% def · norm 63.7%
Takedowns stopped
2180.8% def · norm 63.9%
136:4525.7% of cage time · norm 18.95%
Control time
13:0213.5% of cage time · norm 18.5%
128:113:37 per 15 · norm 2:50
Time under control lower is better
17:172:41 per 15 · norm 3:15
200.56/15 · norm 0.48
Submission attempts
10.16/15 · norm 0.44

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