Brian Kelleher vs.
Montel Jackson
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.
Brian Kelleher
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 8 | 11 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 16 | 5 |
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
Montel Jackson
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 10 | 4 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 5 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.56 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 19 documented bouts
In the UFC: 4-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.4 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)
Brian Kelleher
Distance 87.7% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 4.0% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 8.2% (norm 6.5%)
Montel Jackson
Distance 70.8% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 16.5% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 12.6% (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%)
Montel Jackson
Head 82.4% (norm 77.4%) · Body 11.8% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 5.7% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Kelleher L/A | Acc | Bantamweight med | Jackson L/A | Acc | Bantamweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 345 / 937 | 36.8% | 39.0% | 250 / 544 | 46.0% | 39.0% |
| In the clinch | 29 / 43 | 67.4% | 68.7% | 97 / 127 | 76.4% | 68.7% |
| On the ground | 68 / 88 | 77.3% | 70.2% | 66 / 97 | 68.0% | 70.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 288 / 815 | 35.3% | 34.9% | 297 / 633 | 46.9% | 34.9% |
| To the body | 67 / 141 | 47.5% | 66.8% | 78 / 91 | 85.7% | 66.8% |
| To the legs | 87 / 112 | 77.7% | 79.4% | 38 / 44 | 86.4% | 79.4% |
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 · Bantamweight: 117 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/A | Opp acc | Bantamweight med | vs Jackson L/A | Opp acc | Bantamweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 519 / 1217 | 42.6% | 39.3% | 159 / 435 | 36.6% | 39.3% |
| In the clinch | 64 / 93 | 68.8% | 70.4% | 30 / 38 | 78.9% | 70.4% |
| On the ground | 31 / 43 | 72.1% | 72.4% | 7 / 9 | too few to rate | 72.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 399 / 1044 | 38.2% | 34.9% | 58 / 282 | 20.6% | 34.9% |
| To the body | 130 / 201 | 64.7% | 66.0% | 61 / 104 | 58.7% | 66.0% |
| To the legs | 85 / 108 | 78.7% | 79.1% | 77 / 96 | 80.2% | 79.1% |
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 — Kelleher has more cage time on record.