Alex Nicholson vs.
Misha Cirkunov
Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.
The men, measured.
Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.
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.
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.
Alex Nicholson
Full career not yet synced for Alex Nicholson — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 0-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.8 wins over .500
Misha Cirkunov
Full career not yet synced for Misha Cirkunov — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 3-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.8 wins over .500
The stand-up battle.
Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Alex Nicholson
Distance 94.8% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 4.1% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 1.1% (norm 10.3%)
Misha Cirkunov
Distance 71.3% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 16.2% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 12.5% (norm 10.4%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Alex Nicholson
Head 75.0% (norm 78.0%) · Body 13.4% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 11.6% (norm 8.4%)
Misha Cirkunov
Head 76.1% (norm 79.2%) · Body 17.5% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 6.3% (norm 9.7%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Nicholson L/A | Acc | Middleweight med | Cirkunov L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 109 / 254 | 42.9% | 40.5% | 135 / 326 | 41.4% | 41.4% |
| In the clinch | 5 / 11 | too few to rate | 70.3% | 52 / 74 | 70.3% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 3 / 3 | too few to rate | 69.1% | 50 / 57 | 87.7% | 72.3% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 67 / 201 | 33.3% | 38.9% | 153 / 348 | 44.0% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 23 / 36 | 63.9% | 71.7% | 57 / 80 | 71.2% | 71.9% |
| To the legs | 27 / 31 | 87.1% | 83.3% | 27 / 29 | 93.1% | 81.8% |
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 (Middleweight: 174 fighters · Light Heavyweight: 93 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 Nicholson L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med | vs Cirkunov L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 89 / 190 | 46.8% | 39.5% | 113 / 340 | 33.2% | 40.4% |
| In the clinch | 16 / 27 | 59.3% | 70.9% | 28 / 39 | 71.8% | 68.7% |
| On the ground | 27 / 33 | 81.8% | 69.0% | 47 / 66 | 71.2% | 70.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 92 / 200 | 46.0% | 37.9% | 119 / 347 | 34.3% | 37.5% |
| To the body | 26 / 33 | 78.8% | 71.3% | 40 / 60 | 66.7% | 72.3% |
| To the legs | 14 / 17 | too few to rate | 82.1% | 29 / 38 | 76.3% | 83.0% |
The ground war.
Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Cirkunov has more cage time on record.