BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Rick Story vs.
Thiago Alves

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

12-7-0 Rick Story · UFC
15-12-0 Thiago Alves · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

12-7-0
UFC record
15-12-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
41.9
AgeΔ 0.9 yrs
42.8
5'9"
HeightΔ 0"
5'9"
71"
ReachΔ 1"
70"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
119.5
Layoff (months)Δ 39.5 mo
80
LWWWL
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.

Rick Story hunts takedowns — 2.53 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Rick Story is a submission threat — 0.89 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Welterweight norm.
Thiago Alves carries real power — 0.66 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.38 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.

Rick Story

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

In the UFC: 8-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.8 wins over .500

Thiago Alves

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

In the UFC: 7-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.7 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

9013.80/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
11063.73/min · norm 3.17
5152.17/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
10153.42/min · norm 3.06
41.8%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
41.8%norm 44.9%
62.5%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
62.5%norm 55.25%
60.38/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
130.66/15 · norm 0.38

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

Rick Story

Distance 74.4% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 14.5% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 11.1% (norm 8.1%)

Thiago Alves

Distance 84.1% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 7.9% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 8.0% (norm 8.1%)

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

Rick Story

Head 73.5% (norm 78.2%) · Body 20.0% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 6.5% (norm 8.4%)

Thiago Alves

Head 73.8% (norm 78.2%) · Body 7.6% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 18.7% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Story L/AAccWelterweight med Alves L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 548 / 1606 34.1% 38.6% 867 / 2227 38.9% 38.6%
In the clinch 201 / 312 64.4% 67.8% 126 / 208 60.6% 67.8%
On the ground 152 / 240 63.3% 67.2% 113 / 213 53.1% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 465 / 1586 29.3% 37.2% 569 / 1953 29.1% 37.2%
To the body 312 / 432 72.2% 70.7% 150 / 200 75.0% 70.7%
To the legs 124 / 140 88.6% 82.9% 387 / 495 78.2% 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 Story L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Alves L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 395 / 1173 33.7% 39.0% 731 / 2283 32.0% 39.0%
In the clinch 94 / 165 57.0% 68.9% 159 / 251 63.3% 68.9%
On the ground 26 / 36 72.2% 68.0% 125 / 174 71.8% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 336 / 1118 30.1% 35.6% 649 / 2203 29.5% 35.6%
To the body 108 / 168 64.3% 69.6% 218 / 312 69.9% 69.6%
To the legs 71 / 88 80.7% 82.1% 148 / 193 76.7% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

4048.2% acc · 2.53/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
1460.9% acc · 0.71/15 · norm 1.27
4863.2% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
7763.1% def · norm 63.9%
74:5431.6% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
30:5610.4% of cage time · norm 18.5%
39:212:29 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
76:113:51 per 15 · norm 3:15
140.89/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
60.30/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.