BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Chuck Liddell vs.
Rich Franklin

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

16-7-0 Chuck Liddell · UFC
14-6-0 Rich Franklin · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

16-7-0
UFC record
14-6-0
Light Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
56.6
AgeΔ 4.8 yrs
51.8
6'2"
HeightΔ 1"
6'1"
76"
ReachΔ 0"
76"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
193.8
Layoff (months)Δ 29 mo
164.8
LLLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LWLWL
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.

Chuck Liddell carries real power — 1.03 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.40 Light Heavyweight norm.
Rich Franklin carries real power — 0.74 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.
Chuck Liddell rarely shoots — 0.51 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.87 Light Heavyweight 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.

Chuck Liddell

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

In the UFC: 12-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.7 wins over .500

Rich Franklin

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

In the UFC: 9-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.5 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

6112.99/min · norm 3.41
Sig. strikes landed
8564.23/min · norm 3.25
4342.12/min · norm 3.35
Sig. strikes absorbed
4152.05/min · norm 3.20
37.3%norm 48.3%
Striking accuracy
43.5%norm 47.4%
60.2%norm 52.9%
Striking defense
63.4%norm 53.8%
141.03/15 · norm 0.40
Knockdowns
100.74/15 · norm 0.32

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

Chuck Liddell

Distance 81.2% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 8.2% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 10.6% (norm 10.4%)

Rich Franklin

Distance 79.9% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 11.5% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 8.6% (norm 10.3%)

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

Chuck Liddell

Head 84.5% (norm 79.2%) · Body 4.0% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 11.6% (norm 9.7%)

Rich Franklin

Head 81.6% (norm 78.0%) · Body 12.8% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 5.5% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Liddell L/AAccLight Heavyweight med Franklin L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 430 / 1329 32.4% 41.4% 596 / 1575 37.8% 40.5%
In the clinch 83 / 134 61.9% 70.9% 151 / 226 66.8% 70.3%
On the ground 98 / 173 56.6% 72.3% 109 / 169 64.5% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 417 / 1382 30.2% 38.9% 559 / 1608 34.8% 38.9%
To the body 45 / 65 69.2% 71.9% 198 / 253 78.3% 71.7%
To the legs 149 / 189 78.8% 81.8% 99 / 109 90.8% 83.3%

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 (Light Heavyweight: 93 fighters · Middleweight: 174 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 Liddell L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med vs Franklin L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 367 / 977 37.6% 40.4% 247 / 877 28.2% 39.5%
In the clinch 41 / 72 56.9% 68.7% 120 / 169 71.0% 70.9%
On the ground 26 / 42 61.9% 70.4% 48 / 88 54.5% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 262 / 886 29.6% 37.5% 231 / 879 26.3% 37.9%
To the body 51 / 63 81.0% 72.3% 109 / 162 67.3% 71.3%
To the legs 121 / 142 85.2% 83.0% 75 / 93 80.6% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

787.5% acc · 0.51/15 · norm 0.87
Takedowns landed
1463.6% acc · 1.04/15 · norm 1.42
7081.4% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
3464.2% def · norm 63.1%
17:399.8% of cage time · norm 16.5%
Control time
37:3818.6% of cage time · norm 19.75%
10:450:47 per 15 · norm 2:48
Time under control
25:391:54 per 15 · norm 3:00
00.00/15 · norm 0.27
Submission attempts
20.15/15 · norm 0.47

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.