BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Frankie Edgar vs.
Sean Sherk

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

18-11-1 Frankie Edgar · UFC
8-4-0 Sean Sherk · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

18-11-1
UFC record
8-4-0
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
44
AgeΔ 9 yrs
53
5'6"
HeightΔ 0"
5'6"
68"
ReachΔ 1"
67"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
44.8
Layoff (months)Δ 145.5 mo
190.3
LLLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
WLWLW
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.

Sean Sherk hunts takedowns — 4.01 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Sean Sherk owns the mat — in control 47% of cage time, vs a 20% Lightweight norm.
Frankie Edgar hunts takedowns — 2.29 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.19 Featherweight 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.

Frankie Edgar

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

In the UFC: 17-11 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.3 wins over .500

Sean Sherk

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

In the UFC: 7-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.6 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

18013.77/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
4152.22/min · norm 3.42
13462.82/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
5452.92/min · norm 3.37
40.5%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
34.7%norm 43.5%
65.9%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
55.1%norm 56.3%
30.09/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.25

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

Frankie Edgar

Distance 82.5% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 4.7% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 12.9% (norm 6.5%)

Sean Sherk

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

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

Frankie Edgar

Head 79.6% (norm 77.4%) · Body 12.7% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 7.6% (norm 7.8%)

Sean Sherk

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

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Edgar L/AAccFeatherweight med Sherk L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1263 / 3672 34.4% 40.9% 220 / 873 25.2% 37.9%
In the clinch 129 / 207 62.3% 70.8% 65 / 135 48.1% 67.3%
On the ground 409 / 572 71.5% 69.2% 130 / 188 69.1% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 1195 / 3545 33.7% 37.2% 311 / 1084 28.7% 35.0%
To the body 344 / 566 60.8% 68.2% 43 / 46 93.5% 69.1%
To the legs 262 / 340 77.1% 80.7% 61 / 66 92.4% 81.9%

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 (Featherweight: 126 fighters · Lightweight: 201 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 Edgar L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Sherk L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1159 / 3660 31.7% 39.2% 425 / 1030 41.3% 38.9%
In the clinch 93 / 156 59.6% 70.3% 52 / 79 65.8% 68.6%
On the ground 94 / 135 69.6% 69.4% 68 / 104 65.4% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 995 / 3447 28.9% 35.9% 426 / 1062 40.1% 35.1%
To the body 204 / 317 64.4% 67.9% 93 / 115 80.9% 68.1%
To the legs 147 / 187 78.6% 81.5% 26 / 36 72.2% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

7331.5% acc · 2.29/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
5044.2% acc · 4.01/15 · norm 1.38
4265.6% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
1356.5% def · norm 64.0%
105:3722.1% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
87:1746.7% of cage time · norm 19.5%
16:260:30 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
22:161:47 per 15 · norm 2:46
100.31/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
40.32/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.