BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Brian Kelleher vs.
Kevin Croom

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

8-9-0 Brian Kelleher · UFC
0-3-0 (1 NC) Kevin Croom · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

8-9-0
UFC record
0-3-0 (1 NC)
Bantamweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
40
AgeΔ 0.9 yrs
39.1
5'6"
HeightΔ 5"
5'11"
66"
ReachΔ 7"
73"
Switch
Stance
Orthodox
24.5
Layoff (months)Δ 27.2 mo
51.7
LLLLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLNC
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.

Brian Kelleher is a submission threat — 0.67 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Bantamweight norm.
Kevin Croom carries real power — 0.48 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.29 Featherweight norm.
Kevin Croom owns the mat — in control 27% of cage time, vs a 17% Featherweight 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.

Brian Kelleher

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 811
Tier 3 — regional circuit 165

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.52 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 18 finish wins over 40 documented bouts

In the UFC: 3-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.4 wins over .500

Kevin Croom

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

In the UFC: 0-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.8 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4423.31/min · norm 3.52
Sig. strikes landed
832.65/min · norm 3.54
6144.59/min · norm 3.58
Sig. strikes absorbed
973.10/min · norm 3.47
41.4%norm 43.4%
Striking accuracy
34.2%norm 45.0%
54.6%norm 56.6%
Striking defense
41.9%norm 54.85%
30.34/15 · norm 0.30
Knockdowns
10.48/15 · norm 0.29

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

Brian Kelleher

Distance 87.7% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 4.0% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 8.2% (norm 6.5%)

Kevin Croom

Distance 95.1% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 4.5% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 0.4% (norm 6.5%)

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

Brian Kelleher

Head 76.3% (norm 77.4%) · Body 13.2% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 10.5% (norm 8.4%)

Kevin Croom

Head 79.0% (norm 77.4%) · Body 10.7% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 10.3% (norm 7.8%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Kelleher L/AAccBantamweight med Croom L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 345 / 937 36.8% 39.0% 78 / 231 33.8% 40.9%
In the clinch 29 / 43 67.4% 68.7% 4 / 11 too few to rate 70.8%
On the ground 68 / 88 77.3% 70.2% 1 / 1 too few to rate 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 288 / 815 35.3% 34.9% 48 / 192 25.0% 37.2%
To the body 67 / 141 47.5% 66.8% 14 / 26 53.8% 68.2%
To the legs 87 / 112 77.7% 79.4% 21 / 25 84.0% 80.7%

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 (Bantamweight: 117 fighters · Featherweight: 126 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 Kelleher L/AOpp accBantamweight med vs Croom L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 519 / 1217 42.6% 39.3% 65 / 124 52.4% 39.2%
In the clinch 64 / 93 68.8% 70.4% 15 / 19 too few to rate 70.3%
On the ground 31 / 43 72.1% 72.4% 17 / 24 too few to rate 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 399 / 1044 38.2% 34.9% 69 / 127 54.3% 35.9%
To the body 130 / 201 64.7% 66.0% 23 / 31 74.2% 67.9%
To the legs 85 / 108 78.7% 79.1% 5 / 9 too few to rate 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

1541.7% acc · 1.68/15 · norm 1.12
Takedowns landed
15.9% acc · 0.48/15 · norm 1.19
2460.0% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
330.0% def · norm 61.5%
34:1325.6% of cage time · norm 17.4%
Control time
8:3427.4% of cage time · norm 16.7%
24:262:44 per 15 · norm 2:24
Time under control
10:114:52 per 15 · norm 3:12
60.67/15 · norm 0.28
Submission attempts
10.48/15 · norm 0.46

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.