Chael Sonnen vs.
Demian Maia
Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.
The men, measured.
Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.
What the numbers say.
Scouting notes, auto-generated — only stats deviating more than 25% from the division median make this list. No narratives, just deviations.
Who did they actually beat?
Full-career records re-graded by the tier of opposition — the same grading the Contender Series pick model uses. Records built on tier-4 competition are worth less than records built on killers.
Chael Sonnen
Full career not yet synced for Chael Sonnen — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 6-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.6 wins over .500
Demian Maia
Full career not yet synced for Demian Maia — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 16-11 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.6 wins over .500
The stand-up battle.
Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Chael Sonnen
Distance 48.8% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 11.7% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 39.6% (norm 10.3%)
Demian Maia
Distance 70.0% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 8.0% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 22.0% (norm 8.1%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Chael Sonnen
Head 77.4% (norm 78.0%) · Body 11.2% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 11.3% (norm 8.4%)
Demian Maia
Head 88.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 9.0% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 2.9% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Sonnen L/A | Acc | Middleweight med | Maia L/A | Acc | Welterweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 124 / 439 | 28.2% | 40.5% | 371 / 1188 | 31.2% | 38.6% |
| In the clinch | 73 / 105 | 69.5% | 70.3% | 89 / 135 | 65.9% | 67.8% |
| On the ground | 213 / 356 | 59.8% | 69.1% | 279 / 373 | 74.8% | 67.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 259 / 697 | 37.2% | 38.9% | 592 / 1493 | 39.7% | 37.2% |
| To the body | 68 / 101 | 67.3% | 71.7% | 108 / 153 | 70.6% | 70.7% |
| To the legs | 83 / 102 | 81.4% | 83.3% | 39 / 50 | 78.0% | 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 (Middleweight: 174 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 Sonnen L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med | vs Maia L/A | Opp acc | Welterweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 83 / 344 | 24.1% | 39.5% | 655 / 2026 | 32.3% | 39.0% |
| In the clinch | 35 / 56 | 62.5% | 70.9% | 58 / 95 | 61.1% | 68.9% |
| On the ground | 70 / 97 | 72.2% | 69.0% | 133 / 206 | 64.6% | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 139 / 431 | 32.3% | 37.9% | 567 / 1924 | 29.5% | 35.6% |
| To the body | 41 / 56 | 73.2% | 71.3% | 106 / 185 | 57.3% | 69.6% |
| To the legs | 8 / 10 | too few to rate | 82.1% | 173 / 218 | 79.4% | 82.1% |
The ground war.
Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Maia has more cage time on record.