BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Fabio Maldonado vs.
James McSweeney

Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.

5-6-0 Fabio Maldonado · UFC
1-2-0 James McSweeney · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.

5-6-0
UFC record
1-2-0
Light Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Heavyweight
46.4
AgeΔ 0.6 yrs
45.8
6'1"
HeightΔ 3"
6'4"
75"
ReachΔ 2"
77"
Orthodox
Stance
Switch
128.9
Layoff (months)Δ 60.8 mo
189.7
LLWLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLW
The read

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.

James McSweeney is a submission threat — 1.05 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.16 Heavyweight norm.
Fabio Maldonado is a submission threat — 0.55 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.27 Light Heavyweight norm.
James McSweeney owns the mat — in control 29% of cage time, vs a 17% Heavyweight norm.
Level of competition

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.

Fabio Maldonado

Full career not yet synced for Fabio Maldonado — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 1-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.8 wins over .500

James McSweeney

Full career not yet synced for James McSweeney — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 0-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.0 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

7175.29/min · norm 3.41
Sig. strikes landed
1133.94/min · norm 3.36
5844.31/min · norm 3.35
Sig. strikes absorbed
1244.33/min · norm 3.19
58.9%norm 48.3%
Striking accuracy
55.1%norm 47.8%
53.5%norm 52.9%
Striking defense
42.3%norm 52.5%
10.11/15 · norm 0.40
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.28

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

Fabio Maldonado

Distance 75.6% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 19.3% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 5.1% (norm 10.4%)

James McSweeney

Distance 61.5% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 16.1% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 22.4% (norm 9.3%)

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

Fabio Maldonado

Head 71.5% (norm 79.2%) · Body 28.1% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 0.4% (norm 9.7%)

James McSweeney

Head 68.8% (norm 79.2%) · Body 20.0% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 11.2% (norm 7.6%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Maldonado L/AAccLight Heavyweight med McSweeney L/AAccHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 483 / 921 52.4% 41.4% 61 / 126 48.4% 40.1%
In the clinch 183 / 235 77.9% 70.9% 21 / 33 63.6% 70.6%
On the ground 51 / 62 82.3% 72.3% 31 / 46 67.4% 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 456 / 871 52.4% 38.9% 62 / 141 44.0% 38.9%
To the body 257 / 342 75.1% 71.9% 31 / 41 75.6% 76.8%
To the legs 4 / 5 too few to rate 81.8% 20 / 23 too few to rate 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: 93 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 Maldonado L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med vs McSweeney L/AOpp accHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 311 / 837 37.2% 40.4% 74 / 147 50.3% 40.7%
In the clinch 155 / 248 62.5% 68.7% 12 / 17 too few to rate 70.6%
On the ground 118 / 171 69.0% 70.4% 38 / 51 74.5% 72.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 364 / 970 37.5% 37.5% 81 / 158 51.3% 38.8%
To the body 124 / 174 71.3% 72.3% 42 / 52 80.8% 75.1%
To the legs 96 / 112 85.7% 83.0% 1 / 5 too few to rate 84.4%
Grappling

The ground war.

Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.

457.1% acc · 0.44/15 · norm 0.87
Takedowns landed
133.3% acc · 0.52/15 · norm 0.95
3961.9% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
4100.0% def · norm 64.3%
16:3712.3% of cage time · norm 16.5%
Control time
8:2529.4% of cage time · norm 17.2%
48:545:24 per 15 · norm 2:48
Time under control
7:494:05 per 15 · norm 2:28
50.55/15 · norm 0.27
Submission attempts
21.05/15 · norm 0.16

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.