Roy Nelson vs.
Derrick Lewis
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.
Roy Nelson
Full career not yet synced for Roy Nelson — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 5-8 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.0 wins over .500
Derrick Lewis
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 20 | 13 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 4 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 5 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.24 · 24 tier-1/2 wins · 25 finish wins over 44 documented bouts
In the UFC: 14-12 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.1 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)
Roy Nelson
Distance 82.5% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 13.0% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 4.5% (norm 9.3%)
Derrick Lewis
Distance 57.5% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 13.2% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 29.3% (norm 9.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Roy Nelson
Head 89.1% (norm 79.2%) · Body 6.3% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 4.6% (norm 7.6%)
Derrick Lewis
Head 85.2% (norm 79.2%) · Body 11.8% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 3.0% (norm 7.6%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Nelson L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med | Lewis L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 315 / 970 | 32.5% | 40.1% | 272 / 802 | 33.9% | 40.1% |
| In the clinch | 83 / 153 | 54.2% | 70.6% | 126 / 184 | 68.5% | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 41 / 53 | 77.4% | 70.2% | 284 / 408 | 69.6% | 70.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 341 / 1048 | 32.5% | 38.9% | 538 / 1188 | 45.3% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 53 / 74 | 71.6% | 76.8% | 115 / 164 | 70.1% | 76.8% |
| To the legs | 45 / 54 | 83.3% | 87.8% | 29 / 42 | 69.0% | 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 (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 Nelson L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med | vs Lewis L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 710 / 1438 | 49.4% | 40.7% | 447 / 834 | 53.6% | 40.7% |
| In the clinch | 259 / 354 | 73.2% | 70.6% | 126 / 176 | 71.6% | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 16 / 18 | too few to rate | 72.0% | 218 / 281 | 77.6% | 72.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 640 / 1402 | 45.6% | 38.8% | 509 / 940 | 54.1% | 38.8% |
| To the body | 237 / 293 | 80.9% | 75.1% | 153 / 205 | 74.6% | 75.1% |
| To the legs | 108 / 115 | 93.9% | 84.4% | 129 / 146 | 88.4% | 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 — Lewis has more cage time on record.