Sean Sherk vs. Matt Hughes

UFC 8-4-0 vs. 18-7-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
8-4-0
UFC record
18-7-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
53
AgeΔ 1 yrs
52
5'6"
HeightΔ 3"
5'9"
67"
ReachΔ 6"
73"
Orthodox
Stance
Switch
190.4
Layoff (months)Δ 12 mo
178.4
WLWLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWWW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Matt Hughes owns the mat — in control 57% of cage time, vs a 18% Welterweight norm.
Sean Sherk hunts takedowns — 4.01 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Matt Hughes hunts takedowns — 3.16 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

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

Matt Hughes

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 187
Tier 3 — regional circuit 272

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.36 · 18 tier-1/2 wins · 35 finish wins over 54 documented bouts

In the UFC: 10-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.1 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4152.22/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
5312.38/min · norm 3.17
5452.92/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
2861.28/min · norm 3.06
34.7%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
55.0%norm 44.9%
55.1%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
54.5%norm 55.25%
00.00/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
30.20/15 · norm 0.38

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

Sean Sherk

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

Matt Hughes

Distance 44.0% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 6.3% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 49.6% (norm 8.1%)

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

Sean Sherk

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

Matt Hughes

Head 81.3% (norm 78.2%) · Body 13.0% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 5.7% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Sherk L/AAccLightweight med Hughes L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 220 / 873 25.2% 37.9% 153 / 425 36.0% 38.6%
In the clinch 65 / 135 48.1% 67.3% 46 / 61 75.4% 67.8%
On the ground 130 / 188 69.1% 69.1% 332 / 479 69.3% 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 311 / 1084 28.7% 35.0% 364 / 785 46.4% 37.2%
To the body 43 / 46 93.5% 69.1% 117 / 125 93.6% 70.7%
To the legs 61 / 66 92.4% 81.9% 50 / 55 90.9% 82.9%

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 (Lightweight: 201 fighters · Welterweight: 182 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 Sherk L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Hughes L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 425 / 1030 41.3% 38.9% 138 / 430 32.1% 39.0%
In the clinch 52 / 79 65.8% 68.6% 49 / 62 79.0% 68.9%
On the ground 68 / 104 65.4% 68.0% 99 / 136 72.8% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 426 / 1062 40.1% 35.1% 196 / 503 39.0% 35.6%
To the body 93 / 115 80.9% 68.1% 63 / 87 72.4% 69.6%
To the legs 26 / 36 72.2% 81.5% 27 / 38 71.1% 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
5044.2% acc · 4.01/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
4751.1% acc · 3.16/15 · norm 1.27
1356.5% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
635.3% def · norm 63.9%
87:1746.7% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
117:5156.6% of cage time · norm 18.5%
22:161:47 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
29:371:59 per 15 · norm 3:15
40.32/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
161.08/15 · norm 0.45

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