BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Stephen Thompson vs.
Vicente Luque

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

12-9-1 Stephen Thompson · UFC
17-8-0 Vicente Luque · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

12-9-1
UFC record
17-8-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
43.5
AgeΔ 8.8 yrs
34.7
6'0"
HeightΔ 1"
5'11"
75"
ReachΔ 0"
75"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
12.8
Layoff (months)Δ 9 mo
3.8
LLLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
WLLWL
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.

Vicente Luque carries real power — 0.70 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.38 Welterweight norm.
Stephen Thompson rarely shoots — 0.23 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Vicente Luque absorbs 5.24 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.06 Welterweight norm — hittable.
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.

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

Vicente Luque

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 178
Tier 3 — regional circuit 74

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.18 · 17 tier-1/2 wins · 21 finish wins over 37 documented bouts

In the UFC: 12-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.0 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

12934.05/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
11354.80/min · norm 3.17
9593.00/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
12415.24/min · norm 3.06
46.0%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
50.9%norm 44.9%
54.9%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
51.6%norm 55.25%
100.47/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
110.70/15 · norm 0.38

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

Stephen Thompson

Distance 93.2% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 4.2% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 2.6% (norm 8.1%)

Vicente Luque

Distance 92.0% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 3.5% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 4.5% (norm 8.1%)

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

Stephen Thompson

Head 79.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 15.4% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 5.6% (norm 8.4%)

Vicente Luque

Head 74.9% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.8% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 15.3% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Thompson L/AAccWelterweight med Luque L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1158 / 2618 44.2% 38.6% 1003 / 2052 48.9% 38.6%
In the clinch 88 / 119 73.9% 67.8% 62 / 77 80.5% 67.8%
On the ground 47 / 73 64.4% 67.2% 70 / 101 69.3% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 857 / 2220 38.6% 37.2% 687 / 1671 41.1% 37.2%
To the body 305 / 432 70.6% 70.7% 153 / 218 70.2% 70.7%
To the legs 131 / 158 82.9% 82.9% 295 / 341 86.5% 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 Thompson L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Luque L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 666 / 1731 38.5% 39.0% 998 / 2212 45.1% 39.0%
In the clinch 146 / 204 71.6% 68.9% 140 / 192 72.9% 68.9%
On the ground 147 / 191 77.0% 68.0% 103 / 160 64.4% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 512 / 1495 34.2% 35.6% 932 / 2170 42.9% 35.6%
To the body 172 / 276 62.3% 69.6% 177 / 244 72.5% 69.6%
To the legs 275 / 355 77.5% 82.1% 132 / 150 88.0% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

535.7% acc · 0.23/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
1448.3% acc · 0.89/15 · norm 1.27
5063.3% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
3759.7% def · norm 63.9%
19:186.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
34:1114.4% of cage time · norm 18.5%
60:122:49 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
45:562:54 per 15 · norm 3:15
00.00/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
110.70/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.