BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Tarec Saffiedine vs.
Rafael Dos Anjos

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

2-4-0 Tarec Saffiedine · UFC
21-15-0 Rafael Dos Anjos · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

2-4-0
UFC record
21-15-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
39.9
AgeΔ 1.9 yrs
41.8
5'10"
HeightΔ 2"
5'8"
70"
ReachΔ 0"
70"
Switch
Stance
Southpaw
109.6
Layoff (months)Δ 88.3 mo
21.3
LLLWL
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.

Tarec Saffiedine rarely shoots — 0.62 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Rafael Dos Anjos hunts takedowns — 1.95 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Rafael Dos Anjos owns the mat — in control 26% of cage time, vs a 20% 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.

Tarec Saffiedine

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

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

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

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

3603.73/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
18223.48/min · norm 3.42
3743.88/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
16923.23/min · norm 3.37
45.9%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
47.1%norm 43.5%
56.7%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
60.2%norm 56.3%
30.47/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
70.20/15 · norm 0.25

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

Tarec Saffiedine

Distance 89.2% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 9.9% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 0.9% (norm 8.1%)

Rafael Dos Anjos

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

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

Tarec Saffiedine

Head 74.7% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.8% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 15.4% (norm 8.4%)

Rafael Dos Anjos

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

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Saffiedine L/AAccWelterweight med Anjos L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 301 / 699 43.1% 38.6% 1224 / 3059 40.0% 37.9%
In the clinch 53 / 78 67.9% 67.8% 321 / 407 78.9% 67.3%
On the ground 6 / 7 too few to rate 67.2% 277 / 405 68.4% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 196 / 586 33.4% 37.2% 1063 / 2890 36.8% 35.0%
To the body 62 / 77 80.5% 70.7% 434 / 589 73.7% 69.1%
To the legs 102 / 121 84.3% 82.9% 325 / 392 82.9% 81.9%

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 · Lightweight: 201 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 Saffiedine L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Anjos L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 288 / 744 38.7% 39.0% 1334 / 3750 35.6% 38.9%
In the clinch 72 / 101 71.3% 68.9% 235 / 324 72.5% 68.6%
On the ground 14 / 18 too few to rate 68.0% 123 / 181 68.0% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 233 / 677 34.4% 35.6% 1102 / 3462 31.8% 35.1%
To the body 108 / 148 73.0% 69.6% 352 / 530 66.4% 68.1%
To the legs 33 / 38 86.8% 82.1% 238 / 263 90.5% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

433.3% acc · 0.62/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
6835.6% acc · 1.95/15 · norm 1.38
2180.8% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
9154.8% def · norm 64.0%
13:0213.5% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
136:4526.1% of cage time · norm 19.5%
17:172:41 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
125:273:35 per 15 · norm 2:46
10.16/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
200.57/15 · norm 0.49

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.