BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Shavkat Rakhmonov 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.

7-0-0 Shavkat Rakhmonov · 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.

7-0-0
UFC record
12-9-1
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
31
AgeΔ 12 yrs
43
6'1"
HeightΔ 1"
6'0"
77"
ReachΔ 2"
75"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
19.9
Layoff (months)Δ 7.1 mo
12.8
WWWWW
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.

Shavkat Rakhmonov owns the mat — in control 50% of cage time, vs a 18% Welterweight norm.
Shavkat Rakhmonov is a submission threat — 1.20 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Welterweight 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.

Shavkat Rakhmonov

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 70
Tier 3 — regional circuit 120

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.99 · 7 tier-1/2 wins · 18 finish wins over 19 documented bouts

In the UFC: 7-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +6.4 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

2443.25/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
12934.05/min · norm 3.17
1632.17/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
9593.00/min · norm 3.06
60.1%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
46.0%norm 44.9%
51.3%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
54.9%norm 55.25%
10.20/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
100.47/15 · norm 0.38

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

Shavkat Rakhmonov

Distance 63.5% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 19.0% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 17.5% (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)

Shavkat Rakhmonov

Head 77.6% (norm 78.2%) · Body 19.7% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 2.7% (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 Rakhmonov L/AAccWelterweight med Thompson L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 137 / 258 53.1% 38.6% 1158 / 2618 44.2% 38.6%
In the clinch 59 / 77 76.6% 67.8% 88 / 119 73.9% 67.8%
On the ground 48 / 71 67.6% 67.2% 47 / 73 64.4% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 170 / 315 54.0% 37.2% 857 / 2220 38.6% 37.2%
To the body 64 / 80 80.0% 70.7% 305 / 432 70.6% 70.7%
To the legs 10 / 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 Rakhmonov L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Thompson L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 131 / 290 45.2% 39.0% 666 / 1731 38.5% 39.0%
In the clinch 27 / 37 73.0% 68.9% 146 / 204 71.6% 68.9%
On the ground 5 / 8 too few to rate 68.0% 147 / 191 77.0% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 93 / 235 39.6% 35.6% 512 / 1495 34.2% 35.6%
To the body 32 / 47 68.1% 69.6% 172 / 276 62.3% 69.6%
To the legs 38 / 53 71.7% 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.

725.9% acc · 1.40/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
535.7% acc · 0.23/15 · norm 1.27
685.7% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
5063.3% def · norm 63.9%
37:1649.6% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
19:186.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
7:371:31 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
60:122:49 per 15 · norm 3:15
61.20/15 · 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.