Heath Herring vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

UFC 2-3-0 vs. 5-6-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
2-3-0
UFC record
5-6-0
Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Heavyweight
48
AgeΔ 2 yrs
50
6'4"
HeightΔ 1"
6'3"
78"
ReachΔ 1"
77"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
215.9
Layoff (months)Δ 83.7 mo
132.2
LWLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is a submission threat — 1.61 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.16 Heavyweight norm.
Heath Herring carries real power — 1.00 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Heavyweight norm.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira carries real power — 0.64 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 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

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 56
Tier 3 — regional circuit 234

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.81 · 5 tier-1/2 wins · 21 finish wins over 40 documented bouts

In the UFC: 3-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.7 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

1722.29/min · norm 3.36
Sig. strikes landed
2642.83/min · norm 3.36
1772.36/min · norm 3.19
Sig. strikes absorbed
3603.86/min · norm 3.19
41.7%norm 47.8%
Striking accuracy
40.8%norm 47.8%
45.5%norm 52.5%
Striking defense
56.1%norm 52.5%
51.00/15 · norm 0.28
Knockdowns
40.64/15 · 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%)

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Distance 87.3% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 9.9% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 2.8% (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%)

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Head 90.6% (norm 79.2%) · Body 7.4% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 2.0% (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 Nogueira L/AAccHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 55 / 232 23.7% 40.1% 204 / 565 36.1% 40.1%
In the clinch 19 / 42 45.2% 70.6% 49 / 64 76.6% 70.6%
On the ground 98 / 138 71.0% 70.2% 11 / 18 too few to rate 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 93 / 316 29.4% 38.9% 212 / 586 36.2% 38.9%
To the body 63 / 79 79.7% 76.8% 39 / 48 81.2% 76.8%
To the legs 16 / 17 too few to rate 87.8% 13 / 13 too few to rate 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 Nogueira L/AOpp accHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 66 / 181 36.5% 40.7% 273 / 682 40.0% 40.7%
In the clinch 31 / 34 91.2% 70.6% 43 / 68 63.2% 70.6%
On the ground 80 / 110 72.7% 72.0% 44 / 70 62.9% 72.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 103 / 248 41.5% 38.8% 246 / 681 36.1% 38.8%
To the body 58 / 60 96.7% 75.1% 54 / 71 76.1% 75.1%
To the legs 16 / 17 too few to rate 84.4% 60 / 68 88.2% 84.4%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
583.3% acc · 1.00/15 · norm 0.95
Takedowns landed
821.6% acc · 1.29/15 · norm 0.95
519.2% def · norm 64.3%
Takedowns stopped
337.5% def · norm 64.3%
19:2025.8% of cage time · norm 17.2%
Control time
23:2525.1% of cage time · norm 17.2%
34:426:56 per 15 · norm 2:28
Time under control
14:102:16 per 15 · norm 2:28
10.20/15 · norm 0.16
Submission attempts
101.61/15 · norm 0.16

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