Chael Sonnen vs.
Mauricio Rua
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
Mauricio Rua
Full career not yet synced for Mauricio Rua — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 10-10 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.0 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%)
Mauricio Rua
Distance 76.7% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 10.7% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 12.6% (norm 10.4%)
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%)
Mauricio Rua
Head 72.8% (norm 79.2%) · Body 11.3% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 16.0% (norm 9.7%)
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 | Rua L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 124 / 439 | 28.2% | 40.5% | 621 / 1322 | 47.0% | 41.4% |
| In the clinch | 73 / 105 | 69.5% | 70.3% | 130 / 184 | 70.7% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 213 / 356 | 59.8% | 69.1% | 137 / 217 | 63.1% | 72.3% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 259 / 697 | 37.2% | 38.9% | 527 / 1254 | 42.0% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 68 / 101 | 67.3% | 71.7% | 140 / 194 | 72.2% | 71.9% |
| To the legs | 83 / 102 | 81.4% | 83.3% | 221 / 275 | 80.4% | 81.8% |
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 (Middleweight: 174 fighters · Light 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 Sonnen L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med | vs Rua L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 83 / 344 | 24.1% | 39.5% | 605 / 1462 | 41.4% | 40.4% |
| In the clinch | 35 / 56 | 62.5% | 70.9% | 148 / 225 | 65.8% | 68.7% |
| On the ground | 70 / 97 | 72.2% | 69.0% | 164 / 233 | 70.4% | 70.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 139 / 431 | 32.3% | 37.9% | 616 / 1529 | 40.3% | 37.5% |
| To the body | 41 / 56 | 73.2% | 71.3% | 206 / 263 | 78.3% | 72.3% |
| To the legs | 8 / 10 | too few to rate | 82.1% | 95 / 128 | 74.2% | 83.0% |
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 — Rua has more cage time on record.