BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Brian Kelleher vs.
Umar Nurmagomedov

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
8-1-0 Umar Nurmagomedov · 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
8-1-0
Bantamweight
Division (benchmark)
Bantamweight
40
AgeΔ 9.4 yrs
30.6
5'6"
HeightΔ 2"
5'8"
66"
ReachΔ 3"
69"
Switch
Stance
Orthodox
24.5
Layoff (months)Δ 18.1 mo
6.4
LLLLW
Last 5 (newest first)
WWLWW
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.

Umar Nurmagomedov hunts takedowns — 4.03 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.12 Bantamweight norm.
Brian Kelleher is a submission threat — 0.67 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Bantamweight norm.
Umar Nurmagomedov owns the mat — in control 39% of cage time, vs a 17% Bantamweight 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

Umar Nurmagomedov

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 101
Tier 3 — regional circuit 100

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.75 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 21 documented bouts

In the UFC: 6-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.8 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
4893.86/min · norm 3.52
6144.59/min · norm 3.58
Sig. strikes absorbed
2361.86/min · norm 3.58
41.4%norm 43.4%
Striking accuracy
56.5%norm 43.4%
54.6%norm 56.6%
Striking defense
61.2%norm 56.6%
30.34/15 · norm 0.30
Knockdowns
10.12/15 · norm 0.30

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%)

Umar Nurmagomedov

Distance 75.5% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 4.5% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 20.0% (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%)

Umar Nurmagomedov

Head 76.4% (norm 77.4%) · Body 16.2% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 7.4% (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/AAccBantamweight med Nurmagomedov L/AAccBantamweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 345 / 937 36.8% 39.0% 329 / 654 50.3% 39.0%
In the clinch 29 / 43 67.4% 68.7% 29 / 39 74.4% 68.7%
On the ground 68 / 88 77.3% 70.2% 131 / 173 75.7% 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 288 / 815 35.3% 34.9% 334 / 662 50.5% 34.9%
To the body 67 / 141 47.5% 66.8% 99 / 140 70.7% 66.8%
To the legs 87 / 112 77.7% 79.4% 56 / 64 87.5% 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/AOpp accBantamweight med vs Nurmagomedov L/AOpp accBantamweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 519 / 1217 42.6% 39.3% 206 / 557 37.0% 39.3%
In the clinch 64 / 93 68.8% 70.4% 28 / 47 59.6% 70.4%
On the ground 31 / 43 72.1% 72.4% 2 / 4 too few to rate 72.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 399 / 1044 38.2% 34.9% 117 / 438 26.7% 34.9%
To the body 130 / 201 64.7% 66.0% 74 / 111 66.7% 66.0%
To the legs 85 / 108 78.7% 79.1% 45 / 59 76.3% 79.1%
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
3446.6% acc · 4.03/15 · norm 1.12
2460.0% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
2779.4% def · norm 66.7%
34:1325.6% of cage time · norm 17.4%
Control time
49:0538.8% of cage time · norm 17.4%
24:262:44 per 15 · norm 2:24
Time under control
3:350:25 per 15 · norm 2:24
60.67/15 · norm 0.28
Submission attempts
20.24/15 · norm 0.28

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.