BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

John Phillips vs.
Khamzat Chimaev

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

1-5-0 John Phillips · UFC
9-1-0 Khamzat Chimaev · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

1-5-0
UFC record
9-1-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
41.2
AgeΔ 8.9 yrs
32.3
5'11"
HeightΔ 3"
6'2"
75"
ReachΔ 0"
75"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
69.6
Layoff (months)Δ 66.7 mo
2.9
LLWLL
Last 5 (newest first)
LWWWW
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.

Khamzat Chimaev hunts takedowns — 5.32 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight norm.
Khamzat Chimaev is a submission threat — 1.37 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.47 Middleweight norm.
John Phillips rarely shoots — 0.00 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 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.

John Phillips

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

In the UFC: 0-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record -0.5 wins over .500

Khamzat Chimaev

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 91
Tier 3 — regional circuit 60

Tier-weighted record quality: 2.03 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 16 documented bouts

In the UFC: 7-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +6.4 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

941.72/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
3964.01/min · norm 3.25
2204.03/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
2942.98/min · norm 3.20
34.3%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
54.2%norm 47.4%
49.3%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
52.0%norm 53.8%
20.55/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
20.30/15 · norm 0.32

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

John Phillips

Distance 89.4% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 7.7% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 2.9% (norm 10.3%)

Khamzat Chimaev

Distance 69.5% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 2.2% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 28.4% (norm 10.3%)

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

John Phillips

Head 72.3% (norm 78.0%) · Body 17.2% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 10.6% (norm 8.4%)

Khamzat Chimaev

Head 80.5% (norm 78.0%) · Body 14.2% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 5.2% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Phillips L/AAccMiddleweight med Chimaev L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 81 / 245 33.1% 40.5% 221 / 507 43.6% 40.5%
In the clinch 10 / 21 too few to rate 70.3% 13 / 16 too few to rate 70.3%
On the ground 3 / 8 too few to rate 69.1% 162 / 207 78.3% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 42 / 198 21.2% 38.9% 301 / 588 51.2% 38.9%
To the body 27 / 47 57.4% 71.7% 58 / 104 55.8% 71.7%
To the legs 25 / 29 86.2% 83.3% 37 / 38 97.4% 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 Phillips L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Chimaev L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 131 / 317 41.3% 39.5% 264 / 578 45.7% 39.5%
In the clinch 11 / 12 too few to rate 70.9% 11 / 12 too few to rate 70.9%
On the ground 78 / 105 74.3% 69.0% 19 / 23 too few to rate 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 156 / 357 43.7% 37.9% 245 / 548 44.7% 37.9%
To the body 44 / 54 81.5% 71.3% 35 / 48 72.9% 71.3%
To the legs 20 / 23 too few to rate 82.1% 14 / 17 too few to rate 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

0— acc · 0.00/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
3558.3% acc · 5.32/15 · norm 1.42
17.7% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
787.5% def · norm 63.1%
1:272.7% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
55:4756.5% of cage time · norm 19.75%
26:207:14 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
4:000:36 per 15 · norm 3:00
00.00/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
91.37/15 · norm 0.47

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.