Cain Velasquez vs.
Cheick Kongo
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.
Cain Velasquez
Full career not yet synced for Cain Velasquez — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 8-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.6 wins over .500
Cheick Kongo
Full career not yet synced for Cheick Kongo — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 5-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.1 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)
Cain Velasquez
Distance 48.1% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 21.8% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 30.1% (norm 9.3%)
Cheick Kongo
Distance 54.8% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 25.1% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 20.1% (norm 9.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Cain Velasquez
Head 83.7% (norm 79.2%) · Body 7.1% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 9.1% (norm 7.6%)
Cheick Kongo
Head 60.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 17.9% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 22.1% (norm 7.6%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Velasquez L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med | Kongo L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 260 / 601 | 43.3% | 40.1% | 213 / 541 | 39.4% | 40.1% |
| In the clinch | 195 / 272 | 71.7% | 70.6% | 216 / 248 | 87.1% | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 264 / 376 | 70.2% | 70.2% | 145 / 198 | 73.2% | 70.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 542 / 1046 | 51.8% | 38.9% | 253 / 592 | 42.7% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 77 / 89 | 86.5% | 76.8% | 153 / 177 | 86.4% | 76.8% |
| To the legs | 100 / 114 | 87.7% | 87.8% | 168 / 218 | 77.1% | 87.8% |
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 (Heavyweight: 93 fighters · 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 Velasquez L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med | vs Kongo L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 186 / 506 | 36.8% | 40.7% | 89 / 279 | 31.9% | 40.7% |
| In the clinch | 69 / 106 | 65.1% | 70.6% | 33 / 68 | 48.5% | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 11 / 16 | too few to rate | 72.0% | 112 / 167 | 67.1% | 72.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 196 / 532 | 36.8% | 38.8% | 105 / 349 | 30.1% | 38.8% |
| To the body | 60 / 85 | 70.6% | 75.1% | 88 / 119 | 73.9% | 75.1% |
| To the legs | 10 / 11 | too few to rate | 84.4% | 41 / 46 | 89.1% | 84.4% |
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 — Kongo has more cage time on record.