BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Kennedy Nzechukwu vs.
Chris Barnett

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

8-6-1 Kennedy Nzechukwu · UFC
2-4-0 Chris Barnett · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

8-6-1
UFC record
2-4-0
Light Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Heavyweight
34.1
AgeΔ 6 yrs
40.1
6'5"
HeightΔ 8"
5'9"
83"
ReachΔ 8"
75"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
7.8
Layoff (months)Δ 1.6 mo
9.4
DLWWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWLW
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.

Chris Barnett absorbs 6.55 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.19 Heavyweight norm — hittable.
Chris Barnett rarely shoots — 0.00 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.95 Heavyweight norm.
Kennedy Nzechukwu outworks the Light Heavyweight division — 4.68 sig. strikes landed per minute, vs a 3.41 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.

Kennedy Nzechukwu

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 106
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 10
Tier 3 — regional circuit 30

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.3 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 11 finish wins over 21 documented bouts

In the UFC: 2-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.3 wins over .500

Chris Barnett

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 25
Tier 3 — regional circuit 215

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.62 · 2 tier-1/2 wins · 18 finish wins over 33 documented bouts

In the UFC: 0-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record -0.3 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

6244.68/min · norm 3.41
Sig. strikes landed
1783.36/min · norm 3.36
6034.52/min · norm 3.35
Sig. strikes absorbed
3476.55/min · norm 3.19
49.6%norm 48.3%
Striking accuracy
47.6%norm 47.8%
51.2%norm 52.9%
Striking defense
36.4%norm 52.5%
30.34/15 · norm 0.40
Knockdowns
10.28/15 · norm 0.28

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

Kennedy Nzechukwu

Distance 85.0% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 7.9% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 7.1% (norm 10.4%)

Chris Barnett

Distance 77.8% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 6.1% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 16.0% (norm 9.3%)

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

Kennedy Nzechukwu

Head 87.2% (norm 79.2%) · Body 12.1% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 0.7% (norm 9.7%)

Chris Barnett

Head 74.9% (norm 79.2%) · Body 7.8% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 17.4% (norm 7.6%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Nzechukwu L/AAccLight Heavyweight med Barnett L/AAccHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 472 / 1069 44.2% 41.4% 126 / 291 43.3% 40.1%
In the clinch 81 / 99 81.8% 70.9% 14 / 23 too few to rate 70.6%
On the ground 71 / 89 79.8% 72.3% 38 / 60 63.3% 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 510 / 1096 46.5% 38.9% 103 / 280 36.8% 38.9%
To the body 108 / 152 71.1% 71.9% 21 / 29 72.4% 76.8%
To the legs 6 / 9 too few to rate 81.8% 54 / 65 83.1% 87.8%

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 (Light Heavyweight: 93 fighters · Heavyweight: 93 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 Nzechukwu L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med vs Barnett L/AOpp accHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 496 / 1080 45.9% 40.4% 199 / 355 56.1% 40.7%
In the clinch 79 / 114 69.3% 68.7% 63 / 71 88.7% 70.6%
On the ground 28 / 41 68.3% 70.4% 85 / 120 70.8% 72.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 370 / 946 39.1% 37.5% 239 / 428 55.8% 38.8%
To the body 118 / 154 76.6% 72.3% 96 / 104 92.3% 75.1%
To the legs 115 / 135 85.2% 83.0% 12 / 14 too few to rate 84.4%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

545.5% acc · 0.56/15 · norm 0.87
Takedowns landed
00.0% acc · 0.00/15 · norm 0.95
6380.8% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
635.3% def · norm 64.3%
24:0118.0% of cage time · norm 16.5%
Control time
1:383.1% of cage time · norm 17.2%
26:573:01 per 15 · norm 2:48
Time under control
22:096:16 per 15 · norm 2:28
20.22/15 · norm 0.27
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.16

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.