Heath Herring vs. Cheick Kongo

UFC 2-3-0 vs. 11-6-1

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
2-3-0
UFC record
11-6-1
Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Heavyweight
48
AgeΔ 3 yrs
51
6'4"
HeightΔ 0"
6'4"
78"
ReachΔ 4"
82"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
215.9
Layoff (months)Δ 56.5 mo
159.4
LWLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LWLWW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Heath Herring carries real power — 1.00 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Heavyweight norm.
Cheick Kongo hunts takedowns — 2.20 per 15 minutes, vs a 0.95 Heavyweight norm.
Cheick Kongo owns the mat — in control 36% of cage time, vs a 17% Heavyweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Heath Herring

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 25
Tier 3 — regional circuit 1911

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.19 · 2 tier-1/2 wins · 16 finish wins over 38 documented bouts

In the UFC: 1-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.4 wins over .500

Cheick Kongo

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 2410
Tier 3 — regional circuit 72

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.29 · 24 tier-1/2 wins · 19 finish wins over 46 documented bouts

In the UFC: 5-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.1 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

1722.29/min · norm 3.36
Sig. strikes landed
5743.51/min · norm 3.36
1772.36/min · norm 3.19
Sig. strikes absorbed
2341.43/min · norm 3.19
41.7%norm 47.8%
Striking accuracy
58.2%norm 47.8%
45.5%norm 52.5%
Striking defense
54.5%norm 52.5%
51.00/15 · norm 0.28
Knockdowns
40.37/15 · norm 0.28

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

Heath Herring

Distance 56.3% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 10.2% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 33.5% (norm 9.3%)

Cheick Kongo

Distance 54.8% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 25.1% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 20.1% (norm 9.3%)

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

Heath Herring

Head 76.7% (norm 79.2%) · Body 19.2% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 4.1% (norm 7.6%)

Cheick Kongo

Head 60.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 17.9% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 22.1% (norm 7.6%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Herring L/AAccHeavyweight med Kongo L/AAccHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 55 / 232 23.7% 40.1% 213 / 541 39.4% 40.1%
In the clinch 19 / 42 45.2% 70.6% 216 / 248 87.1% 70.6%
On the ground 98 / 138 71.0% 70.2% 145 / 198 73.2% 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 93 / 316 29.4% 38.9% 253 / 592 42.7% 38.9%
To the body 63 / 79 79.7% 76.8% 153 / 177 86.4% 76.8%
To the legs 16 / 17 too few to rate 87.8% 168 / 218 77.1% 87.8%

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 (Heavyweight: 93 fighters · Heavyweight: 93 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 Herring L/AOpp accHeavyweight med vs Kongo L/AOpp accHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 66 / 181 36.5% 40.7% 89 / 279 31.9% 40.7%
In the clinch 31 / 34 91.2% 70.6% 33 / 68 48.5% 70.6%
On the ground 80 / 110 72.7% 72.0% 112 / 167 67.1% 72.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 103 / 248 41.5% 38.8% 105 / 349 30.1% 38.8%
To the body 58 / 60 96.7% 75.1% 88 / 119 73.9% 75.1%
To the legs 16 / 17 too few to rate 84.4% 41 / 46 89.1% 84.4%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
583.3% acc · 1.00/15 · norm 0.95
Takedowns landed
2463.2% acc · 2.20/15 · norm 0.95
519.2% def · norm 64.3%
Takedowns stopped
3253.3% def · norm 64.3%
19:2025.8% of cage time · norm 17.2%
Control time
58:2035.7% of cage time · norm 17.2%
34:426:56 per 15 · norm 2:28
Time under control
51:104:41 per 15 · norm 2:28
10.20/15 · norm 0.16
Submission attempts
30.28/15 · norm 0.16

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