BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Cody Brundage vs.
Bo Nickal

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

6-8-1 (1 NC) Cody Brundage · UFC
6-1-0 Bo Nickal · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

6-8-1 (1 NC)
UFC record
6-1-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
32
AgeΔ 2 yrs
30
6'0"
HeightΔ 1"
6'1"
72"
ReachΔ 4"
76"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
2.7
Layoff (months)Δ 0.9 mo
1.8
WLLLD
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.

Bo Nickal is a submission threat — 1.47 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.47 Middleweight norm.
Bo Nickal carries real power — 0.88 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.
Cody Brundage carries real power — 0.49 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight 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.

Cody Brundage

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 69
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 10
Tier 3 — regional circuit 50

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.71 · 7 tier-1/2 wins · 10 finish wins over 23 documented bouts

In the UFC: 2-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.6 wins over .500

Bo Nickal

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 81
Tier 3 — regional circuit 10

Tier-weighted record quality: 2.31 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 8 finish wins over 10 documented bouts

In the UFC: 2-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.6 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

2942.39/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
1713.35/min · norm 3.25
3542.88/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
1022.00/min · norm 3.20
49.8%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
61.5%norm 47.4%
51.8%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
60.0%norm 53.8%
40.49/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
30.88/15 · norm 0.32

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

Cody Brundage

Distance 77.5% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 7.5% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 15.1% (norm 10.3%)

Bo Nickal

Distance 82.7% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 6.8% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 10.4% (norm 10.3%)

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

Cody Brundage

Head 84.9% (norm 78.0%) · Body 6.6% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 8.5% (norm 8.4%)

Bo Nickal

Head 72.7% (norm 78.0%) · Body 15.8% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 11.5% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Brundage L/AAccMiddleweight med Nickal L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 197 / 457 43.1% 40.5% 137 / 230 59.6% 40.5%
In the clinch 28 / 44 63.6% 70.3% 13 / 19 too few to rate 70.3%
On the ground 69 / 89 77.5% 69.1% 21 / 29 72.4% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 227 / 501 45.3% 38.9% 110 / 202 54.5% 38.9%
To the body 25 / 39 64.1% 71.7% 33 / 44 75.0% 71.7%
To the legs 42 / 50 84.0% 83.3% 28 / 32 87.5% 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 (Middleweight: 174 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 Brundage L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Nickal L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 162 / 428 37.9% 39.5% 83 / 234 35.5% 39.5%
In the clinch 55 / 87 63.2% 70.9% 19 / 21 too few to rate 70.9%
On the ground 137 / 219 62.6% 69.0% 0 / 0 too few to rate 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 278 / 616 45.1% 37.9% 41 / 174 23.6% 37.9%
To the body 39 / 74 52.7% 71.3% 37 / 53 69.8% 71.3%
To the legs 37 / 44 84.1% 82.1% 24 / 28 85.7% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

1442.4% acc · 1.71/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
850.0% acc · 2.35/15 · norm 1.42
2266.7% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
9100.0% def · norm 63.1%
22:0718.0% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
17:0333.4% of cage time · norm 19.75%
50:446:11 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
3:120:56 per 15 · norm 3:00
40.49/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
51.47/15 · norm 0.47

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.