BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Terrance McKinney vs.
Kyle Nelson

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

8-6-0 Terrance McKinney · UFC
5-6-1 Kyle Nelson · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

8-6-0
UFC record
5-6-1
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
31.9
AgeΔ 3.4 yrs
35.3
5'10"
HeightΔ 1"
5'11"
73"
ReachΔ 2"
71"
Switch
Stance
Switch
0.9
Layoff (months)Δ 3.4 mo
4.3
LWLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LWLWW
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.

Terrance McKinney carries real power — 1.31 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.25 Lightweight norm.
Terrance McKinney is a submission threat — 2.18 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.49 Lightweight norm.
Kyle Nelson absorbs 4.58 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.47 Featherweight norm — hittable.
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.

Terrance McKinney

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 87
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 20
Tier 3 — regional circuit 82

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.95 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 18 finish wins over 27 documented bouts

In the UFC: 1-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.5 wins over .500

Kyle Nelson

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 56
Tier 3 — regional circuit 121

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.79 · 5 tier-1/2 wins · 10 finish wins over 25 documented bouts

In the UFC: 4-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.9 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

2747.95/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
4133.60/min · norm 3.54
1644.76/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
5254.58/min · norm 3.47
55.8%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
45.8%norm 45.0%
41.6%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
53.8%norm 54.85%
31.31/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
10.13/15 · norm 0.29

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

Terrance McKinney

Distance 60.5% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 8.8% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 30.8% (norm 8.0%)

Kyle Nelson

Distance 88.2% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 9.5% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 2.2% (norm 6.5%)

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

Terrance McKinney

Head 90.4% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.4% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 0.2% (norm 7.9%)

Kyle Nelson

Head 73.9% (norm 77.4%) · Body 16.6% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 9.4% (norm 7.8%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone McKinney L/AAccLightweight med Nelson L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 128 / 297 43.1% 37.9% 346 / 796 43.5% 40.9%
In the clinch 32 / 43 74.4% 67.3% 54 / 86 62.8% 70.8%
On the ground 114 / 151 75.5% 69.1% 13 / 20 too few to rate 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 239 / 444 53.8% 35.0% 231 / 667 34.6% 37.2%
To the body 35 / 46 76.1% 69.1% 108 / 150 72.0% 68.2%
To the legs 0 / 1 too few to rate 81.9% 74 / 85 87.1% 80.7%

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 (Lightweight: 201 fighters · Featherweight: 126 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 McKinney L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Nelson L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 104 / 201 51.7% 38.9% 382 / 916 41.7% 39.2%
In the clinch 19 / 24 too few to rate 68.6% 43 / 58 74.1% 70.3%
On the ground 41 / 56 73.2% 68.0% 100 / 163 61.3% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 102 / 203 50.2% 35.1% 300 / 862 34.8% 35.9%
To the body 44 / 56 78.6% 68.1% 125 / 157 79.6% 67.9%
To the legs 18 / 22 too few to rate 81.5% 100 / 118 84.7% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

746.7% acc · 3.05/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
923.1% acc · 1.18/15 · norm 1.19
872.7% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
1266.7% def · norm 61.5%
15:3345.1% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
23:3120.5% of cage time · norm 16.7%
3:351:33 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
26:173:26 per 15 · norm 3:12
52.18/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
40.52/15 · norm 0.46

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.