Stephan Bonnar vs. Mike Nickels
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Stephan Bonnar
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 8 | 8 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 7 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.87 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 10 finish wins over 24 documented bouts
In the UFC: 5-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.2 wins over .500
Mike Nickels
Full career not yet synced for Mike Nickels — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 0-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.0 wins over .500
Striking
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Stephan Bonnar
Distance 62.8% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 21.2% (norm 8.8%) · Ground 16.0% (norm 10.6%)
Mike Nickels
Distance 26.1% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 30.4% (norm 8.8%) · Ground 43.5% (norm 10.6%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Stephan Bonnar
Head 83.2% (norm 78.5%) · Body 10.8% (norm 11.8%) · Legs 6.0% (norm 9.7%)
Mike Nickels
Head 67.4% (norm 78.5%) · Body 30.4% (norm 11.8%) · Legs 2.2% (norm 9.7%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Bonnar L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med | Nickels L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 199 / 725 | 27.4% | 41.5% | 3 / 12 | too few to rate | 41.5% |
| In the clinch | 147 / 245 | 60.0% | 70.8% | 8 / 14 | too few to rate | 70.8% |
| On the ground | 113 / 185 | 61.1% | 72.9% | 13 / 20 | too few to rate | 72.9% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 324 / 961 | 33.7% | 39.2% | 13 / 31 | 41.9% | 39.2% |
| To the body | 89 / 125 | 71.2% | 72.0% | 10 / 14 | too few to rate | 72.0% |
| To the legs | 46 / 69 | 66.7% | 82.1% | 1 / 1 | too few to rate | 82.1% |
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: 94 fighters · Light Heavyweight: 94 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 Bonnar L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med | vs Nickels L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 297 / 735 | 40.4% | 40.6% | 4 / 12 | too few to rate | 40.6% |
| In the clinch | 148 / 233 | 63.5% | 68.8% | 2 / 5 | too few to rate | 68.8% |
| On the ground | 56 / 85 | 65.9% | 70.4% | 0 / 0 | too few to rate | 70.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 324 / 819 | 39.6% | 37.7% | 4 / 13 | too few to rate | 37.7% |
| To the body | 90 / 113 | 79.6% | 72.9% | 0 / 2 | too few to rate | 72.9% |
| To the legs | 87 / 121 | 71.9% | 83.1% | 2 / 2 | too few to rate | 83.1% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Bonnar has more cage time on record.