Rashad Evans vs.
Daniel Kelly
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.
Rashad Evans
Full career not yet synced for Rashad Evans — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 12-8 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.2 wins over .500
Daniel Kelly
Full career not yet synced for Daniel Kelly — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 4-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.1 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)
Rashad Evans
Distance 73.9% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 12.0% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 14.1% (norm 10.4%)
Daniel Kelly
Distance 81.6% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 9.0% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 9.4% (norm 10.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Rashad Evans
Head 88.4% (norm 79.2%) · Body 8.3% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 3.2% (norm 9.7%)
Daniel Kelly
Head 93.2% (norm 78.0%) · Body 3.5% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 3.2% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Evans L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med | Kelly L/A | Acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 359 / 1208 | 29.7% | 41.4% | 242 / 736 | 32.9% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 116 / 196 | 59.2% | 70.9% | 53 / 81 | 65.4% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 139 / 231 | 60.2% | 72.3% | 55 / 85 | 64.7% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 484 / 1446 | 33.5% | 38.9% | 303 / 841 | 36.0% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 87 / 136 | 64.0% | 71.9% | 21 / 32 | 65.6% | 71.7% |
| To the legs | 43 / 53 | 81.1% | 81.8% | 26 / 29 | 89.7% | 83.3% |
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 · Middleweight: 174 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 Evans L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med | vs Kelly L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 500 / 1641 | 30.5% | 40.4% | 382 / 1090 | 35.0% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 188 / 309 | 60.8% | 68.7% | 53 / 65 | 81.5% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 22 / 31 | 71.0% | 70.4% | 14 / 17 | too few to rate | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 444 / 1591 | 27.9% | 37.5% | 316 / 986 | 32.0% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 168 / 260 | 64.6% | 72.3% | 82 / 115 | 71.3% | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 98 / 130 | 75.4% | 83.0% | 51 / 71 | 71.8% | 82.1% |
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 — Evans has more cage time on record.