Fernando Padilla vs. Kyle Nelson
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Fernando Padilla
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 3 | 2 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 3 | 1 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 10 | 3 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 1.01 · 6 tier-1/2 wins · 14 finish wins over 22 documented bouts
In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.8 wins over .500
Kyle Nelson
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 5 | 6 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 12 | 1 |
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
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Fernando Padilla
Distance 86.9% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 4.9% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 8.2% (norm 6.5%)
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)
Fernando Padilla
Head 82.0% (norm 77.4%) · Body 10.6% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 7.4% (norm 7.8%)
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 | Padilla L/A | Acc | Featherweight med | Nelson L/A | Acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 118 / 319 | 37.0% | 40.9% | 346 / 796 | 43.5% | 40.9% |
| In the clinch | 12 / 18 | too few to rate | 70.8% | 54 / 86 | 62.8% | 70.8% |
| On the ground | 18 / 30 | 60.0% | 69.2% | 13 / 20 | too few to rate | 69.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 97 / 301 | 32.2% | 37.2% | 231 / 667 | 34.6% | 37.2% |
| To the body | 29 / 39 | 74.4% | 68.2% | 108 / 150 | 72.0% | 68.2% |
| To the legs | 22 / 27 | 81.5% | 80.7% | 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 (Featherweight: 126 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 Padilla L/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med | vs Nelson L/A | Opp acc | Featherweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 136 / 282 | 48.2% | 39.2% | 382 / 916 | 41.7% | 39.2% |
| In the clinch | 2 / 8 | too few to rate | 70.3% | 43 / 58 | 74.1% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 2 / 2 | too few to rate | 69.4% | 100 / 163 | 61.3% | 69.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 88 / 234 | 37.6% | 35.9% | 300 / 862 | 34.8% | 35.9% |
| To the body | 22 / 26 | 84.6% | 67.9% | 125 / 157 | 79.6% | 67.9% |
| To the legs | 30 / 32 | 93.8% | 81.5% | 100 / 118 | 84.7% | 81.5% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Nelson has more cage time on record.