BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Stanislav Nedkov vs.
Tom Watson

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

1-2-0 (1 NC) Stanislav Nedkov · UFC
2-5-0 Tom Watson · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

1-2-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
2-5-0
Light Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
44
AgeΔ 0 yrs
44
5'11"
HeightΔ 2"
6'1"
71"
ReachΔ 2"
73"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
138.4
Layoff (months)Δ 6.5 mo
131.9
LLNCW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWLL
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.

Stanislav Nedkov hunts takedowns — 2.77 per 15 minutes, vs a 0.87 Light Heavyweight norm.
Stanislav Nedkov carries real power — 1.11 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.40 Light Heavyweight norm.
Tom Watson rarely shoots — 0.15 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight 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.

Stanislav Nedkov

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

In the UFC: 1-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.5 wins over .500

Tom Watson

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

In the UFC: 1-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.7 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

903.33/min · norm 3.41
Sig. strikes landed
4004.01/min · norm 3.25
1465.39/min · norm 3.35
Sig. strikes absorbed
4404.41/min · norm 3.20
43.5%norm 48.3%
Striking accuracy
44.3%norm 47.4%
43.6%norm 52.9%
Striking defense
50.2%norm 53.8%
21.11/15 · norm 0.40
Knockdowns
10.15/15 · norm 0.32

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

Stanislav Nedkov

Distance 51.7% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 27.5% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 20.8% (norm 10.4%)

Tom Watson

Distance 80.3% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 18.6% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 1.1% (norm 10.3%)

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

Stanislav Nedkov

Head 86.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 9.7% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 4.3% (norm 9.7%)

Tom Watson

Head 65.9% (norm 78.0%) · Body 16.9% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 17.3% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Nedkov L/AAccLight Heavyweight med Watson L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 32 / 107 29.9% 41.4% 288 / 724 39.8% 40.5%
In the clinch 36 / 57 63.2% 70.9% 105 / 168 62.5% 70.3%
On the ground 22 / 43 51.2% 72.3% 7 / 10 too few to rate 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 69 / 178 38.8% 38.9% 180 / 594 30.3% 38.9%
To the body 14 / 20 too few to rate 71.9% 88 / 152 57.9% 71.7%
To the legs 7 / 9 too few to rate 81.8% 132 / 156 84.6% 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 Nedkov L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med vs Watson L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 46 / 111 41.4% 40.4% 294 / 667 44.1% 39.5%
In the clinch 82 / 125 65.6% 68.7% 101 / 148 68.2% 70.9%
On the ground 18 / 23 too few to rate 70.4% 45 / 68 66.2% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 69 / 164 42.1% 37.5% 330 / 745 44.3% 37.9%
To the body 38 / 53 71.7% 72.3% 58 / 82 70.7% 71.3%
To the legs 39 / 42 92.9% 83.0% 52 / 56 92.9% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

541.7% acc · 2.77/15 · norm 0.87
Takedowns landed
17.1% acc · 0.15/15 · norm 1.42
00.0% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
2443.6% def · norm 63.1%
9:0433.5% of cage time · norm 16.5%
Control time
10:0310.1% of cage time · norm 19.75%
5:523:15 per 15 · norm 2:48
Time under control
30:384:36 per 15 · norm 3:00
00.00/15 · norm 0.27
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.47

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.