BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Rich Franklin vs.
Chuck Liddell

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

14-6-0 Rich Franklin · UFC
16-7-0 Chuck Liddell · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

14-6-0
UFC record
16-7-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Light Heavyweight
51.8
AgeΔ 4.8 yrs
56.6
6'1"
HeightΔ 1"
6'2"
76"
ReachΔ 0"
76"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
164.8
Layoff (months)Δ 29 mo
193.8
LWLWL
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.

Chuck Liddell carries real power — 1.03 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.40 Light Heavyweight norm.
Rich Franklin carries real power — 0.74 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.
Chuck Liddell rarely shoots — 0.51 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.87 Light Heavyweight norm.
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.

Rich Franklin

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

In the UFC: 9-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.5 wins over .500

Chuck Liddell

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

In the UFC: 12-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.7 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

8564.23/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
6112.99/min · norm 3.41
4152.05/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
4342.12/min · norm 3.35
43.5%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
37.3%norm 48.3%
63.4%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
60.2%norm 52.9%
100.74/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
141.03/15 · norm 0.40

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

Rich Franklin

Distance 79.9% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 11.5% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 8.6% (norm 10.3%)

Chuck Liddell

Distance 81.2% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 8.2% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 10.6% (norm 10.4%)

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

Rich Franklin

Head 81.6% (norm 78.0%) · Body 12.8% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 5.5% (norm 8.4%)

Chuck Liddell

Head 84.5% (norm 79.2%) · Body 4.0% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 11.6% (norm 9.7%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Franklin L/AAccMiddleweight med Liddell L/AAccLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 596 / 1575 37.8% 40.5% 430 / 1329 32.4% 41.4%
In the clinch 151 / 226 66.8% 70.3% 83 / 134 61.9% 70.9%
On the ground 109 / 169 64.5% 69.1% 98 / 173 56.6% 72.3%
BY TARGET
To the head 559 / 1608 34.8% 38.9% 417 / 1382 30.2% 38.9%
To the body 198 / 253 78.3% 71.7% 45 / 65 69.2% 71.9%
To the legs 99 / 109 90.8% 83.3% 149 / 189 78.8% 81.8%

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 (Middleweight: 174 fighters · Light 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 Franklin L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Liddell L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 247 / 877 28.2% 39.5% 367 / 977 37.6% 40.4%
In the clinch 120 / 169 71.0% 70.9% 41 / 72 56.9% 68.7%
On the ground 48 / 88 54.5% 69.0% 26 / 42 61.9% 70.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 231 / 879 26.3% 37.9% 262 / 886 29.6% 37.5%
To the body 109 / 162 67.3% 71.3% 51 / 63 81.0% 72.3%
To the legs 75 / 93 80.6% 82.1% 121 / 142 85.2% 83.0%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

1463.6% acc · 1.04/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
787.5% acc · 0.51/15 · norm 0.87
3464.2% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
7081.4% def · norm 66.7%
37:3818.6% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
17:399.8% of cage time · norm 16.5%
25:391:54 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
10:450:47 per 15 · norm 2:48
20.15/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.27

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.