Kevin Lee vs. Michael Chiesa

UFC 11-8-0 vs. 15-7-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
11-8-0
UFC record
15-7-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
33
AgeΔ 5 yrs
38
5'9"
HeightΔ 4"
6'1"
77"
ReachΔ 2"
75"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
37.2
Layoff (months)Δ 32.9 mo
4.3
LLLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
WWWWL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Michael Chiesa hunts takedowns — 3.11 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Michael Chiesa is a submission threat — 1.04 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Welterweight norm.
Kevin Lee hunts takedowns — 3.18 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Kevin Lee

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 119
Tier 3 — regional circuit 90

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.06 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 29 documented bouts

In the UFC: 8-8 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.8 wins over .500

Michael Chiesa

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 157
Tier 3 — regional circuit 50

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.4 · 15 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 27 documented bouts

In the UFC: 7-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.5 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

8433.88/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
4092.02/min · norm 3.17
7813.60/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
3501.73/min · norm 3.06
42.3%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
40.7%norm 44.9%
50.3%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
58.0%norm 55.25%
10.07/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
10.07/15 · norm 0.38

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

Kevin Lee

Distance 77.0% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 4.9% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 18.0% (norm 8.0%)

Michael Chiesa

Distance 75.5% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 9.7% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 14.7% (norm 8.1%)

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

Kevin Lee

Head 87.5% (norm 78.2%) · Body 11.3% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 1.2% (norm 7.9%)

Michael Chiesa

Head 85.4% (norm 78.2%) · Body 12.2% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 2.4% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Lee L/AAccLightweight med Chiesa L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 500 / 1537 32.5% 37.9% 249 / 760 32.8% 38.6%
In the clinch 73 / 98 74.5% 67.3% 65 / 98 66.3% 67.8%
On the ground 270 / 360 75.0% 69.1% 95 / 148 64.2% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 653 / 1746 37.4% 35.0% 299 / 859 34.8% 37.2%
To the body 166 / 225 73.8% 69.1% 88 / 123 71.5% 70.7%
To the legs 24 / 24 too few to rate 81.9% 22 / 24 too few to rate 82.9%

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 (Lightweight: 201 fighters · Welterweight: 182 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 Lee L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Chiesa L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 650 / 1405 46.3% 38.9% 262 / 712 36.8% 39.0%
In the clinch 64 / 84 76.2% 68.6% 48 / 68 70.6% 68.9%
On the ground 67 / 83 80.7% 68.0% 40 / 53 75.5% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 514 / 1235 41.6% 35.1% 181 / 605 29.9% 35.6%
To the body 146 / 202 72.3% 68.1% 88 / 127 69.3% 69.6%
To the legs 121 / 135 89.6% 81.5% 81 / 101 80.2% 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
4643.4% acc · 3.18/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
4247.7% acc · 3.11/15 · norm 1.27
3075.0% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
2765.9% def · norm 63.9%
89:3241.2% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
81:0340.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
16:101:07 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
37:002:44 per 15 · norm 3:15
110.76/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
141.04/15 · norm 0.45

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