BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Kamaru Usman 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.

16-4-0 Kamaru Usman · 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.

16-4-0
UFC record
9-1-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
39
AgeΔ 7 yrs
32
6'0"
HeightΔ 2"
6'2"
76"
ReachΔ 1"
75"
Switch
Stance
Orthodox
0.7
Layoff (months)Δ 2.3 mo
3
LWLLL
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.
Kamaru Usman owns the mat — in control 40% of cage time, vs a 18% 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.

Kamaru Usman

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 164
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 40
Tier 3 — regional circuit 11

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.67 · 20 tier-1/2 wins · 10 finish wins over 26 documented bouts

In the UFC: 14-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +6.0 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

15034.13/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
3964.01/min · norm 3.25
10402.86/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
2942.98/min · norm 3.20
50.9%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
54.2%norm 47.4%
54.6%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
52.0%norm 53.8%
100.41/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
20.30/15 · norm 0.32

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

Kamaru Usman

Distance 73.7% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 10.1% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 16.3% (norm 8.1%)

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)

Kamaru Usman

Head 76.3% (norm 78.2%) · Body 19.2% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 4.5% (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 Usman L/AAccWelterweight med Chimaev L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 897 / 2176 41.2% 38.6% 221 / 507 43.6% 40.5%
In the clinch 242 / 297 81.5% 67.8% 13 / 16 too few to rate 70.3%
On the ground 364 / 480 75.8% 67.2% 162 / 207 78.3% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 945 / 2252 42.0% 37.2% 301 / 588 51.2% 38.9%
To the body 441 / 567 77.8% 70.7% 58 / 104 55.8% 71.7%
To the legs 117 / 134 87.3% 82.9% 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 (Welterweight: 182 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 Usman L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Chimaev L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 873 / 2090 41.8% 39.0% 264 / 578 45.7% 39.5%
In the clinch 123 / 147 83.7% 68.9% 11 / 12 too few to rate 70.9%
On the ground 44 / 54 81.5% 68.0% 19 / 23 too few to rate 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 600 / 1762 34.1% 35.6% 245 / 548 44.7% 37.9%
To the body 263 / 330 79.7% 69.6% 35 / 48 72.9% 71.3%
To the legs 177 / 199 88.9% 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.

6342.0% acc · 2.60/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
3558.3% acc · 5.32/15 · norm 1.42
4690.2% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
787.5% def · norm 63.1%
147:1440.5% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
55:4756.5% of cage time · norm 19.75%
15:140:37 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
4:000:36 per 15 · norm 3:00
20.08/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
91.37/15 · norm 0.47

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.