BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Conor McGregor vs.
Khabib Nurmagomedov

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

10-5-0 Conor McGregor · UFC
13-0-0 Khabib Nurmagomedov · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

10-5-0
UFC record
13-0-0
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
38.1
AgeΔ 0.2 yrs
37.9
5'9"
HeightΔ 1"
5'10"
74"
ReachΔ 4"
70"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
0.9
Layoff (months)Δ 68.5 mo
69.4
LLLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
WWWWW
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.

Conor McGregor carries real power — 1.72 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.29 Featherweight norm.
Khabib Nurmagomedov hunts takedowns — 5.32 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Khabib Nurmagomedov owns the mat — in control 55% of cage time, vs a 20% Lightweight 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.

Conor McGregor

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 105
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 41
Tier 3 — regional circuit 81

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.31 · 14 tier-1/2 wins · 20 finish wins over 29 documented bouts

In the UFC: 10-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +7.1 wins over .500

Khabib Nurmagomedov

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

In the UFC: 10-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.2 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

5995.27/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
7054.10/min · norm 3.42
5364.71/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
3011.75/min · norm 3.37
49.5%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
48.8%norm 43.5%
53.9%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
65.4%norm 56.3%
131.72/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
20.17/15 · norm 0.25

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

Conor McGregor

Distance 84.5% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 6.2% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 9.3% (norm 6.5%)

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Distance 61.1% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 2.8% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 36.1% (norm 8.0%)

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

Conor McGregor

Head 78.8% (norm 77.4%) · Body 13.1% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 8.2% (norm 7.8%)

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Head 91.3% (norm 78.2%) · Body 6.0% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 2.7% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone McGregor L/AAccFeatherweight med Nurmagomedov L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 461 / 1022 45.1% 40.9% 298 / 883 33.7% 37.9%
In the clinch 61 / 75 81.3% 70.8% 27 / 40 67.5% 67.3%
On the ground 77 / 113 68.1% 69.2% 380 / 521 72.9% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 419 / 953 44.0% 37.2% 604 / 1318 45.8% 35.0%
To the body 102 / 158 64.6% 68.2% 65 / 87 74.7% 69.1%
To the legs 78 / 99 78.8% 80.7% 36 / 39 92.3% 81.9%

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 (Featherweight: 126 fighters · Lightweight: 201 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 McGregor L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Nurmagomedov L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 336 / 864 38.9% 39.2% 260 / 822 31.6% 38.9%
In the clinch 96 / 142 67.6% 70.3% 30 / 35 85.7% 68.6%
On the ground 104 / 156 66.7% 69.4% 11 / 13 too few to rate 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 372 / 913 40.7% 35.9% 167 / 661 25.3% 35.1%
To the body 88 / 136 64.7% 67.9% 88 / 155 56.8% 68.1%
To the legs 76 / 113 67.3% 81.5% 46 / 54 85.2% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

555.6% acc · 0.66/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
6148.0% acc · 5.32/15 · norm 1.38
2266.7% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
1184.6% def · norm 64.0%
13:5112.2% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
94:4155.1% of cage time · norm 19.5%
31:344:09 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
2:330:13 per 15 · norm 2:46
10.13/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
90.79/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.