Kennedy Nzechukwu vs.
Shamil Gaziev
Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.
The men, measured.
Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.
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.
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 tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 10 | 6 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 1 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 3 | 0 |
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
Shamil Gaziev
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 4 | 3 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 10 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.26 · 4 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 17 documented bouts
In the UFC: 1-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.3 wins over .500
The stand-up battle.
Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
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%)
Shamil Gaziev
Distance 82.2% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 12.0% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 5.8% (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%)
Shamil Gaziev
Head 84.4% (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/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med | Gaziev L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 472 / 1069 | 44.2% | 41.4% | 117 / 295 | 39.7% | 40.1% |
| In the clinch | 81 / 99 | 81.8% | 70.9% | 32 / 43 | 74.4% | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 71 / 89 | 79.8% | 72.3% | 14 / 21 | too few to rate | 70.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 510 / 1096 | 46.5% | 38.9% | 116 / 303 | 38.3% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 108 / 152 | 71.1% | 71.9% | 44 / 53 | 83.0% | 76.8% |
| To the legs | 6 / 9 | too few to rate | 81.8% | 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: 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/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med | vs Gaziev L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 496 / 1080 | 45.9% | 40.4% | 264 / 478 | 55.2% | 40.7% |
| In the clinch | 79 / 114 | 69.3% | 68.7% | 15 / 31 | 48.4% | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 28 / 41 | 68.3% | 70.4% | 1 / 2 | too few to rate | 72.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 370 / 946 | 39.1% | 37.5% | 178 / 393 | 45.3% | 38.8% |
| To the body | 118 / 154 | 76.6% | 72.3% | 57 / 72 | 79.2% | 75.1% |
| To the legs | 115 / 135 | 85.2% | 83.0% | 45 / 46 | 97.8% | 84.4% |
The ground war.
Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Nzechukwu has more cage time on record.