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Picks · Compare · Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Shamil Gaziev
Heavyweight · 5 rounds · Hernandez vs Rodrigues
14-6-1
Red corner
VS
14-3
Blue corner

The model's read of this fight

One honest, calibrated confidence split — a real, booked bout, so we show the number.

LOW We predict Kennedy Nzechukwu55% confident
Kennedy Nzechukwu 55% Shamil Gaziev 45%

On the feet Kennedy Nzechukwu lands more volume — 4.96 strikes a minute to 2.94. Net of it, the method model leans KO/TKO (49%), the model flags Kennedy Nzechukwu at LOW.

Built only from the striking / grappling rates and the method read shown on this page — career averages from public UFC statistics. If a number isn't in the data, it isn't in this summary.

Tale of the tape

Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Shamil Gaziev — the facts, side by side. ▲ marks the reach edge.

14-6-1Record14-3
African SavageNickname
6' 5"Height6' 4"
83.0"Reach78.0"
SouthpawStanceOrthodox
34Age36
236 lbs.Weight265 lbs.
United StatesNationalityBahrain
Dallas, TexasHometownManama
Fortis MMAFighting out ofKHK MMA
Vitals and record from public UFC statistics; nickname, nationality, hometown and camp from the public fighter register.

FightIQ Metrics

Our read — not official stats. Six 0–100 scores, each a percentile rank against every fighter on record. The better score on each row is highlighted in that fighter's corner colour.

Kennedy NzechukwuShamil Gaziev
74
Striking
56
36
Defence
24
28
Grappling / TD
31
93
Cardio
8
45
Chin
8
55
Fight IQ
25
Our read — derived, not official stats.

Strike zones

Strike zones

Where they go — head to head

Career UFC significant strikes by target zone. Red corner left, blue corner right.

Kennedy Nzechukwu15 UFC fights · 624 landed

81.7%
HEAD
71.2%
17.3%
BODY
27.0%
1.0%
LEGS
1.8%

Shamil Gaziev6 UFC fights · 163 landed

Significant strikes only, as recorded by UFCStats, across the fighter's whole UFC career. Shares are raw counts — nothing here is modelled or smoothed. Accuracy is landed ÷ attempted and comes from the per-round tape, which covers slightly fewer fights than the totals do.

Stat-by-stat

Kennedy Nzechukwu (left) vs Shamil Gaziev (right) — career striking & grappling rates. The fighter ahead on each row is highlighted in their corner colour.

Strikes landed / min
4.96
vs
2.94
Striking accuracy
46%
vs
46%
Strikes absorbed / min
4.58
vs
4.92
Striking defence
51%
vs
45%
Takedowns / 15 min
0.5
vs
1.06
Takedown accuracy
45%
vs
33%
Takedown defence
80%
vs
83%
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.2
vs
0.3
Career averages from public UFC statistics. On “strikes absorbed / min”, fewer is better.

Live market

The market line next to the live prediction-market price — information only, not a bet call.

paymentsSportsbook line
Kennedy Nzechukwu+105
Shamil Gaziev-124
Live · Polymarket
Kennedy Nzechukwu46% · +115
Shamil Gaziev54% · -115
as of 2026-08-22T19:51:08Z · $59,563 liquidity. The implied chance is the market's number, not ours.

Go deeper

Want to compare two other fighters? The build-your-own head-to-head lets you stack any two fighters we hold data on side by side — tale of the tape, stat-by-stat and the FightIQ Metrics. What it can't show is a model read: we only publish a prediction on a booked bout, where the call is timestamped before the cage door closes.
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