Jake Shields vs.
Yoshihiro Akiyama
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.
Jake Shields
Full career not yet synced for Jake Shields — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 3-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.9 wins over .500
Yoshihiro Akiyama
Full career not yet synced for Yoshihiro Akiyama — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 2-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.6 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)
Jake Shields
Distance 85.9% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 11.1% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 3.0% (norm 8.1%)
Yoshihiro Akiyama
Distance 85.4% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 2.3% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 12.2% (norm 10.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Jake Shields
Head 68.7% (norm 78.2%) · Body 18.0% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 13.2% (norm 8.4%)
Yoshihiro Akiyama
Head 89.8% (norm 78.0%) · Body 3.5% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 6.6% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Shields L/A | Acc | Welterweight med | Akiyama L/A | Acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 248 / 948 | 26.2% | 38.6% | 239 / 656 | 36.4% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 73 / 122 | 59.8% | 67.8% | 9 / 18 | too few to rate | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 28 / 33 | 84.8% | 67.2% | 53 / 94 | 56.4% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 134 / 758 | 17.7% | 37.2% | 242 / 690 | 35.1% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 130 / 199 | 65.3% | 70.7% | 20 / 27 | 74.1% | 71.7% |
| To the legs | 85 / 146 | 58.2% | 82.9% | 39 / 51 | 76.5% | 83.3% |
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 (Welterweight: 182 fighters · Middleweight: 174 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 Shields L/A | Opp acc | Welterweight med | vs Akiyama L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 166 / 520 | 31.9% | 39.0% | 388 / 897 | 43.3% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 99 / 124 | 79.8% | 68.9% | 44 / 78 | 56.4% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 29 / 43 | 67.4% | 68.0% | 22 / 33 | 66.7% | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 162 / 513 | 31.6% | 35.6% | 289 / 784 | 36.9% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 105 / 146 | 71.9% | 69.6% | 58 / 80 | 72.5% | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 27 / 28 | 96.4% | 82.1% | 107 / 144 | 74.3% | 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 — Shields has more cage time on record.