BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Jim Miller vs.
Michael Chiesa

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

28-18-0 (1 NC) Jim Miller · UFC
15-7-0 Michael Chiesa · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

28-18-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
15-7-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
42.9
AgeΔ 4.2 yrs
38.7
5'8"
HeightΔ 5"
6'1"
71"
ReachΔ 4"
75"
Southpaw
Stance
Southpaw
2.9
Layoff (months)Δ 1.4 mo
4.3
WLWLW
Last 5 (newest first)
WWWWL
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.

Jim Miller is a submission threat — 1.72 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.49 Lightweight norm.
Michael Chiesa hunts takedowns — 3.11 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Michael Chiesa is a submission threat — 1.04 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Welterweight 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.

Jim Miller

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 2818
Tier 3 — regional circuit 111

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.25 · 28 tier-1/2 wins · 29 finish wins over 59 documented bouts

In the UFC: 16-17 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.4 wins over .500

Michael Chiesa

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 157
Tier 3 — regional circuit 50

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.4 · 15 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 27 documented bouts

In the UFC: 7-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.5 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

13222.92/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
4092.02/min · norm 3.17
15543.43/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
3501.73/min · norm 3.06
42.1%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
40.7%norm 44.9%
56.7%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
58.0%norm 55.25%
60.20/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
10.07/15 · norm 0.38

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

Jim Miller

Distance 81.2% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 9.7% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 9.1% (norm 8.0%)

Michael Chiesa

Distance 75.5% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 9.7% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 14.7% (norm 8.1%)

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

Jim Miller

Head 77.5% (norm 78.2%) · Body 11.9% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 10.6% (norm 7.9%)

Michael Chiesa

Head 85.4% (norm 78.2%) · Body 12.2% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 2.4% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Miller L/AAccLightweight med Chiesa L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 945 / 2547 37.1% 37.9% 249 / 760 32.8% 38.6%
In the clinch 194 / 303 64.0% 67.3% 65 / 98 66.3% 67.8%
On the ground 183 / 287 63.8% 69.1% 95 / 148 64.2% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 775 / 2431 31.9% 35.0% 299 / 859 34.8% 37.2%
To the body 266 / 372 71.5% 69.1% 88 / 123 71.5% 70.7%
To the legs 281 / 334 84.1% 81.9% 22 / 24 too few to rate 82.9%

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 (Lightweight: 201 fighters · Welterweight: 182 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 Miller L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Chiesa L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1185 / 3031 39.1% 38.9% 262 / 712 36.8% 39.0%
In the clinch 174 / 255 68.2% 68.6% 48 / 68 70.6% 68.9%
On the ground 195 / 307 63.5% 68.0% 40 / 53 75.5% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 1055 / 2895 36.4% 35.1% 181 / 605 29.9% 35.6%
To the body 351 / 496 70.8% 68.1% 88 / 127 69.3% 69.6%
To the legs 148 / 202 73.3% 81.5% 81 / 101 80.2% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

4545.0% acc · 1.49/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
4247.7% acc · 3.11/15 · norm 1.27
5047.6% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
2765.9% def · norm 63.9%
94:1220.8% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
81:0340.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
121:424:01 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
37:002:44 per 15 · norm 3:15
521.72/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
141.04/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.