BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Kyle Nelson vs.
Marco Polo Reyes

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

5-6-1 Kyle Nelson · UFC
4-4-0 Marco Polo Reyes · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

5-6-1
UFC record
4-4-0
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
35.3
AgeΔ 6.4 yrs
41.7
5'11"
HeightΔ 0"
5'11"
71"
ReachΔ 0"
71"
Switch
Stance
Orthodox
4.3
Layoff (months)Δ 78.2 mo
82.5
LWLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWL
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.

Marco Polo Reyes carries real power — 1.71 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.25 Lightweight norm.
Marco Polo Reyes rarely shoots — 0.00 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Kyle Nelson absorbs 4.58 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.47 Featherweight norm — hittable.
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.

Kyle Nelson

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 56
Tier 3 — regional circuit 121

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.79 · 5 tier-1/2 wins · 10 finish wins over 25 documented bouts

In the UFC: 4-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.9 wins over .500

Marco Polo Reyes

Full career not yet synced for Marco Polo Reyes — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 0-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.2 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4133.60/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
2646.00/min · norm 3.42
5254.58/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
2435.52/min · norm 3.37
45.8%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
37.3%norm 43.5%
53.8%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
59.7%norm 56.3%
10.13/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
51.71/15 · norm 0.25

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

Kyle Nelson

Distance 88.2% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 9.5% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 2.2% (norm 6.5%)

Marco Polo Reyes

Distance 89.5% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 5.5% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 4.9% (norm 8.0%)

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

Kyle Nelson

Head 73.9% (norm 77.4%) · Body 16.6% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 9.4% (norm 7.8%)

Marco Polo Reyes

Head 79.8% (norm 78.2%) · Body 14.1% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 6.1% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Nelson L/AAccFeatherweight med Reyes L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 346 / 796 43.5% 40.9% 215 / 634 33.9% 37.9%
In the clinch 54 / 86 62.8% 70.8% 23 / 39 59.0% 67.3%
On the ground 13 / 20 too few to rate 69.2% 26 / 35 74.3% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 231 / 667 34.6% 37.2% 166 / 565 29.4% 35.0%
To the body 108 / 150 72.0% 68.2% 66 / 100 66.0% 69.1%
To the legs 74 / 85 87.1% 80.7% 32 / 43 74.4% 81.9%

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 (Featherweight: 126 fighters · Lightweight: 201 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 Nelson L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Reyes L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 382 / 916 41.7% 39.2% 168 / 495 33.9% 38.9%
In the clinch 43 / 58 74.1% 70.3% 37 / 53 69.8% 68.6%
On the ground 100 / 163 61.3% 69.4% 38 / 55 69.1% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 300 / 862 34.8% 35.9% 189 / 529 35.7% 35.1%
To the body 125 / 157 79.6% 67.9% 33 / 51 64.7% 68.1%
To the legs 100 / 118 84.7% 81.5% 21 / 23 too few to rate 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

923.1% acc · 1.18/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
00.0% acc · 0.00/15 · norm 1.38
1266.7% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
746.7% def · norm 64.0%
23:3120.5% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
3:599.1% of cage time · norm 19.5%
26:173:26 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
7:012:23 per 15 · norm 2:46
40.52/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.