Nick Diaz vs. Sean Sherk

UFC 7-7-0 (1 NC) vs. 8-4-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
7-7-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
8-4-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
43
AgeΔ 10 yrs
53
6'1"
HeightΔ 7"
5'6"
76"
ReachΔ 9"
67"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
58.4
Layoff (months)Δ 132 mo
190.4
LNCLLW
Last 5 (newest first)
WLWLW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Sean Sherk hunts takedowns — 4.01 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Sean Sherk owns the mat — in control 47% of cage time, vs a 20% Lightweight norm.
Nick Diaz is a submission threat — 0.95 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.45 Welterweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Nick Diaz

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 77
Tier 3 — regional circuit 173

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.88 · 7 tier-1/2 wins · 19 finish wins over 36 documented bouts

In the UFC: 2-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.1 wins over .500

Sean Sherk

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 94
Tier 3 — regional circuit 270

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.32 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 21 finish wins over 41 documented bouts

In the UFC: 7-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.6 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

8724.26/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
4152.22/min · norm 3.42
7963.89/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
5452.92/min · norm 3.37
41.7%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
34.7%norm 43.5%
54.1%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
55.1%norm 56.3%
30.22/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.25

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

Nick Diaz

Distance 82.8% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 11.7% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 5.5% (norm 8.1%)

Sean Sherk

Distance 73.0% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 11.3% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 15.7% (norm 8.0%)

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

Nick Diaz

Head 80.8% (norm 78.2%) · Body 14.7% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 4.5% (norm 8.4%)

Sean Sherk

Head 90.6% (norm 78.2%) · Body 3.8% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 5.5% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Diaz L/AAccWelterweight med Sherk L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 658 / 1734 37.9% 38.6% 220 / 873 25.2% 37.9%
In the clinch 155 / 244 63.5% 67.8% 65 / 135 48.1% 67.3%
On the ground 59 / 115 51.3% 67.2% 130 / 188 69.1% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 605 / 1691 35.8% 37.2% 311 / 1084 28.7% 35.0%
To the body 212 / 307 69.1% 70.7% 43 / 46 93.5% 69.1%
To the legs 55 / 95 57.9% 82.9% 61 / 66 92.4% 81.9%

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 (Welterweight: 182 fighters · Lightweight: 201 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 Diaz L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Sherk L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 574 / 1290 44.5% 39.0% 425 / 1030 41.3% 38.9%
In the clinch 132 / 245 53.9% 68.9% 52 / 79 65.8% 68.6%
On the ground 90 / 201 44.8% 68.0% 68 / 104 65.4% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 507 / 1389 36.5% 35.6% 426 / 1062 40.1% 35.1%
To the body 149 / 179 83.2% 69.6% 93 / 115 80.9% 68.1%
To the legs 140 / 168 83.3% 82.1% 26 / 36 72.2% 81.5%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
1434.1% acc · 1.03/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
5044.2% acc · 4.01/15 · norm 1.38
4962.8% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
1356.5% def · norm 64.0%
29:3014.4% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
87:1746.7% of cage time · norm 19.5%
48:443:34 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
22:161:47 per 15 · norm 2:46
130.95/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
40.32/15 · norm 0.49

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