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Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Shamil Gaziev

UFC 8-7-1 vs. 4-3-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
8-7-1
UFC record
4-3-0
Light Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Heavyweight
34
AgeΔ 2 yrs
36
6'5"
HeightΔ 1"
6'4"
83"
ReachΔ 5"
78"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
1.9
Layoff (months)Δ 0 mo
1.9
LDLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
WLLWW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Shamil Gaziev owns the mat — in control 40% of cage time, vs a 17% Heavyweight norm.
Shamil Gaziev carries real power — 0.54 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.29 Heavyweight norm.
Kennedy Nzechukwu rarely shoots — 0.56 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.87 Light Heavyweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

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 +0.2 wins over .500

Shamil Gaziev

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 43
Tier 3 — regional circuit 100

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.26 · 4 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 17 documented bouts

In the UFC: 2-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.3 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

6274.65/min · norm 3.48
Sig. strikes landed
1652.97/min · norm 3.28
6054.49/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
2835.09/min · norm 3.19
49.6%norm 48.45%
Striking accuracy
45.3%norm 47.5%
51.2%norm 52.75%
Striking defense
45.4%norm 52.5%
30.33/15 · norm 0.40
Knockdowns
20.54/15 · norm 0.29

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

Kennedy Nzechukwu

Distance 85.1% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 7.8% (norm 8.8%) · Ground 7.0% (norm 10.6%)

Shamil Gaziev

Distance 82.4% (norm 79.2%) · Clinch 11.8% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 5.8% (norm 9.3%)

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

Kennedy Nzechukwu

Head 87.3% (norm 78.5%) · Body 12.0% (norm 11.8%) · Legs 0.7% (norm 9.7%)

Shamil Gaziev

Head 84.3% (norm 79.2%) · Body 14.8% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 0.8% (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 Gaziev L/AAccHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 475 / 1076 44.1% 41.5% 119 / 300 39.7% 40.1%
In the clinch 81 / 99 81.8% 70.8% 32 / 43 74.4% 70.4%
On the ground 71 / 89 79.8% 72.9% 14 / 21 too few to rate 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 513 / 1103 46.5% 39.2% 118 / 307 38.4% 39.0%
To the body 108 / 152 71.1% 72.0% 44 / 54 81.5% 77.0%
To the legs 6 / 9 too few to rate 82.1% 3 / 3 too few to rate 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: 94 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 Gaziev L/AOpp accHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 498 / 1085 45.9% 40.6% 267 / 485 55.1% 40.7%
In the clinch 79 / 114 69.3% 68.8% 15 / 31 48.4% 70.6%
On the ground 28 / 41 68.3% 70.4% 1 / 2 too few to rate 72.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 372 / 950 39.2% 37.7% 181 / 400 45.2% 39.3%
To the body 118 / 155 76.1% 72.9% 57 / 72 79.2% 75.1%
To the legs 115 / 135 85.2% 83.1% 45 / 46 97.8% 84.4%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
545.5% acc · 0.56/15 · norm 0.87
Takedowns landed
433.3% acc · 1.08/15 · norm 0.90
6380.8% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
583.3% def · norm 63.2%
24:0117.8% of cage time · norm 17.1%
Control time
22:2540.3% of cage time · norm 17.2%
26:572:59 per 15 · norm 2:50
Time under control lower is better
0:370:09 per 15 · norm 2:28
20.22/15 · norm 0.28
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.