Thiago Tavares vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Thiago Tavares
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 12 | 9 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 12 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.03 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 19 finish wins over 35 documented bouts
In the UFC: 5-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.0 wins over .500
Khabib Nurmagomedov
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 13 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 13 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 2.02 · 13 tier-1/2 wins · 18 finish wins over 26 documented bouts
In the UFC: 10-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.2 wins over .500
Striking
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Thiago Tavares
Distance 75.4% (norm 83.1%) · Clinch 6.5% (norm 7.3%) · Ground 18.2% (norm 8.0%)
Khabib Nurmagomedov
Distance 61.1% (norm 83.1%) · Clinch 2.8% (norm 7.3%) · Ground 36.1% (norm 8.0%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Thiago Tavares
Head 82.9% (norm 78.0%) · Body 12.9% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 4.1% (norm 8.0%)
Khabib Nurmagomedov
Head 91.3% (norm 78.0%) · Body 6.0% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 2.7% (norm 8.0%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Tavares L/A | Acc | Lightweight med | Nurmagomedov L/A | Acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 209 / 618 | 33.8% | 38.3% | 298 / 883 | 33.7% | 38.3% |
| In the clinch | 30 / 53 | 56.6% | 67.5% | 27 / 40 | 67.5% | 67.5% |
| On the ground | 90 / 149 | 60.4% | 68.8% | 380 / 521 | 72.9% | 68.8% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 229 / 680 | 33.7% | 35.1% | 604 / 1318 | 45.8% | 35.1% |
| To the body | 76 / 106 | 71.7% | 69.1% | 65 / 87 | 74.7% | 69.1% |
| To the legs | 24 / 34 | 70.6% | 81.8% | 36 / 39 | 92.3% | 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 (Lightweight: 204 fighters · Lightweight: 204 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 Tavares L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med | vs Nurmagomedov L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 224 / 783 | 28.6% | 38.8% | 260 / 822 | 31.6% | 38.8% |
| In the clinch | 59 / 97 | 60.8% | 68.6% | 30 / 35 | 85.7% | 68.6% |
| On the ground | 96 / 139 | 69.1% | 68.0% | 11 / 13 | too few to rate | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 243 / 834 | 29.1% | 35.2% | 167 / 661 | 25.3% | 35.2% |
| To the body | 69 / 102 | 67.6% | 68.2% | 88 / 155 | 56.8% | 68.2% |
| To the legs | 67 / 83 | 80.7% | 81.5% | 46 / 54 | 85.2% | 81.5% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Tavares has more cage time on record.