BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

James McSweeney vs.
Fabio Maldonado

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

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

The men, measured.

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

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

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

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

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

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

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

James McSweeney

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

Fabio Maldonado

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

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

James McSweeney

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

Fabio Maldonado

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

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone McSweeney L/AAccHeavyweight med Maldonado L/AAccLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 61 / 126 48.4% 40.1% 483 / 921 52.4% 41.4%
In the clinch 21 / 33 63.6% 70.6% 183 / 235 77.9% 70.9%
On the ground 31 / 46 67.4% 70.2% 51 / 62 82.3% 72.3%
BY TARGET
To the head 62 / 141 44.0% 38.9% 456 / 871 52.4% 38.9%
To the body 31 / 41 75.6% 76.8% 257 / 342 75.1% 71.9%
To the legs 20 / 23 too few to rate 87.8% 4 / 5 too few to rate 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 (Heavyweight: 93 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 McSweeney L/AOpp accHeavyweight med vs Maldonado L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 74 / 147 50.3% 40.7% 311 / 837 37.2% 40.4%
In the clinch 12 / 17 too few to rate 70.6% 155 / 248 62.5% 68.7%
On the ground 38 / 51 74.5% 72.0% 118 / 171 69.0% 70.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 81 / 158 51.3% 38.8% 364 / 970 37.5% 37.5%
To the body 42 / 52 80.8% 75.1% 124 / 174 71.3% 72.3%
To the legs 1 / 5 too few to rate 84.4% 96 / 112 85.7% 83.0%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

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

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.