Cheick Kongo vs.
Carmelo Marrero
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.
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
Carmelo Marrero
Full career not yet synced for Carmelo Marrero — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 1-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.5 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)
Cheick Kongo
Distance 54.8% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 25.1% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 20.1% (norm 9.3%)
Carmelo Marrero
Distance 55.4% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 6.0% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 38.6% (norm 10.4%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Cheick Kongo
Head 60.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 17.9% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 22.1% (norm 7.6%)
Carmelo Marrero
Head 77.1% (norm 79.2%) · Body 16.9% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 6.0% (norm 9.7%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Kongo L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med | Marrero L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 213 / 541 | 39.4% | 40.1% | 9 / 46 | 19.6% | 41.4% |
| In the clinch | 216 / 248 | 87.1% | 70.6% | 0 / 5 | too few to rate | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 145 / 198 | 73.2% | 70.2% | 18 / 32 | 56.2% | 72.3% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 253 / 592 | 42.7% | 38.9% | 13 / 64 | 20.3% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 153 / 177 | 86.4% | 76.8% | 10 / 14 | too few to rate | 71.9% |
| To the legs | 168 / 218 | 77.1% | 87.8% | 4 / 5 | too few to rate | 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 (Heavyweight: 93 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 Kongo L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med | vs Marrero L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 89 / 279 | 31.9% | 40.7% | 35 / 90 | 38.9% | 40.4% |
| In the clinch | 33 / 68 | 48.5% | 70.6% | 9 / 15 | too few to rate | 68.7% |
| On the ground | 112 / 167 | 67.1% | 72.0% | 20 / 34 | 58.8% | 70.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 105 / 349 | 30.1% | 38.8% | 36 / 100 | 36.0% | 37.5% |
| To the body | 88 / 119 | 73.9% | 75.1% | 5 / 8 | too few to rate | 72.3% |
| To the legs | 41 / 46 | 89.1% | 84.4% | 23 / 31 | 74.2% | 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 — Kongo has more cage time on record.