BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Edson Barboza vs.
Giga Chikadze

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

18-14-0 Edson Barboza · UFC
8-4-0 Giga Chikadze · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

18-14-0
UFC record
8-4-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
40.5
AgeΔ 2.6 yrs
37.9
5'11"
HeightΔ 1"
6'0"
75"
ReachΔ 1"
74"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
8
Layoff (months)Δ 0.2 mo
7.8
LLLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWL
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.

Edson Barboza carries real power — 0.63 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.25 Lightweight norm.
Giga Chikadze carries real power — 0.59 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.29 Featherweight norm.
Giga Chikadze rarely shoots — 0.20 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.19 Featherweight 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.

Edson Barboza

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1814
Tier 3 — regional circuit 60

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.06 · 18 tier-1/2 wins · 15 finish wins over 38 documented bouts

In the UFC: 13-12 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.2 wins over .500

Giga Chikadze

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

In the UFC: 4-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.8 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

15864.14/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
5893.85/min · norm 3.54
17924.68/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
5313.47/min · norm 3.47
44.7%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
42.2%norm 45.0%
55.7%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
61.1%norm 54.85%
160.63/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
60.59/15 · norm 0.29

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

Edson Barboza

Distance 94.7% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 2.7% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 2.6% (norm 8.0%)

Giga Chikadze

Distance 94.1% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 1.0% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 4.9% (norm 6.5%)

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

Edson Barboza

Head 65.6% (norm 78.2%) · Body 20.3% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 14.1% (norm 7.9%)

Giga Chikadze

Head 74.6% (norm 77.4%) · Body 16.8% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 8.5% (norm 7.8%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Barboza L/AAccLightweight med Chikadze L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1447 / 3362 43.0% 37.9% 538 / 1313 41.0% 40.9%
In the clinch 79 / 97 81.4% 67.3% 5 / 14 too few to rate 70.8%
On the ground 60 / 92 65.2% 69.1% 46 / 69 66.7% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 694 / 2329 29.8% 35.0% 340 / 1042 32.6% 37.2%
To the body 500 / 720 69.4% 69.1% 154 / 235 65.5% 68.2%
To the legs 392 / 502 78.1% 81.9% 95 / 119 79.8% 80.7%

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 (Lightweight: 201 fighters · Featherweight: 126 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 Barboza L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Chikadze L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1445 / 3555 40.6% 38.9% 491 / 1313 37.4% 39.2%
In the clinch 76 / 116 65.5% 68.6% 11 / 14 too few to rate 70.3%
On the ground 271 / 373 72.7% 68.0% 29 / 37 78.4% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 1302 / 3359 38.8% 35.1% 351 / 1081 32.5% 35.9%
To the body 244 / 387 63.0% 68.1% 104 / 179 58.1% 67.9%
To the legs 246 / 298 82.6% 81.5% 76 / 104 73.1% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

1150.0% acc · 0.43/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
240.0% acc · 0.20/15 · norm 1.19
7673.1% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
2268.8% def · norm 61.5%
24:396.4% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
3:102.1% of cage time · norm 16.7%
66:532:37 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
18:221:47 per 15 · norm 3:12
20.08/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
20.20/15 · norm 0.46

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.