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Brandon Vera vs. Fabricio Werdum

UFC 8-7-0 (1 NC) vs. 12-6-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
8-7-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
12-6-0
Light Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Heavyweight
49
AgeΔ 0 yrs
49
6'3"
HeightΔ 1"
6'4"
78"
ReachΔ 1"
77"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
157.6
Layoff (months)Δ 82.8 mo
74.8
LLWNCL
Last 5 (newest first)
WLLWW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Fabricio Werdum is a submission threat — 0.47 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.16 Heavyweight norm.
Brandon Vera carries real power — 0.64 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.40 Light Heavyweight norm.
Fabricio Werdum's takedown defense leaks — 27% stopped, vs a 63% Heavyweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Brandon Vera

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1210
Tier 3 — regional circuit 30

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.97 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 11 finish wins over 26 documented bouts

In the UFC: 3-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.4 wins over .500

Fabricio Werdum

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 126
Tier 3 — regional circuit 123

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.12 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 18 finish wins over 35 documented bouts

In the UFC: 11-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.4 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

5033.07/min · norm 3.48
Sig. strikes landed
8904.60/min · norm 3.28
4802.93/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
6283.25/min · norm 3.19
55.8%norm 48.45%
Striking accuracy
56.4%norm 47.5%
52.5%norm 52.75%
Striking defense
54.9%norm 52.5%
70.64/15 · norm 0.40
Knockdowns
40.31/15 · norm 0.29

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

Brandon Vera

Distance 68.9% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 24.5% (norm 8.8%) · Ground 6.5% (norm 10.6%)

Fabricio Werdum

Distance 79.8% (norm 79.2%) · Clinch 9.8% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 10.4% (norm 9.3%)

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

Brandon Vera

Head 56.7% (norm 78.5%) · Body 19.8% (norm 11.8%) · Legs 23.5% (norm 9.7%)

Fabricio Werdum

Head 75.9% (norm 79.2%) · Body 13.6% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 10.4% (norm 7.6%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Vera L/AAccLight Heavyweight med Werdum L/AAccHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 289 / 621 46.5% 41.5% 673 / 1260 53.4% 40.1%
In the clinch 171 / 221 77.4% 70.8% 112 / 155 72.3% 70.4%
On the ground 43 / 59 72.9% 72.9% 105 / 164 64.0% 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 182 / 511 35.6% 39.2% 568 / 1199 47.4% 39.0%
To the body 141 / 178 79.2% 72.0% 169 / 215 78.6% 77.0%
To the legs 180 / 212 84.9% 82.1% 153 / 165 92.7% 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 (Light Heavyweight: 94 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 Vera L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med vs Werdum L/AOpp accHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 193 / 572 33.7% 40.6% 482 / 1199 40.2% 40.7%
In the clinch 198 / 284 69.7% 68.8% 97 / 140 69.3% 70.6%
On the ground 89 / 154 57.8% 70.4% 49 / 55 89.1% 72.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 283 / 764 37.0% 37.7% 417 / 1107 37.7% 39.3%
To the body 95 / 118 80.5% 72.9% 82 / 115 71.3% 75.1%
To the legs 102 / 128 79.7% 83.1% 129 / 172 75.0% 84.4%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
853.3% acc · 0.73/15 · norm 0.87
Takedowns landed
1628.6% acc · 1.24/15 · norm 0.90
2960.4% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
426.7% def · norm 63.2%
26:4016.3% of cage time · norm 17.1%
Control time
36:0418.6% of cage time · norm 17.2%
62:085:40 per 15 · norm 2:50
Time under control lower is better
21:431:41 per 15 · norm 2:28
20.18/15 · norm 0.28
Submission attempts
60.47/15 · norm 0.16

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