Keita Nakamura vs.
Rob Emerson
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.
Keita Nakamura
Full career not yet synced for Keita Nakamura — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 3-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.4 wins over .500
Rob Emerson
Full career not yet synced for Rob Emerson — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 1-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record -0.4 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)
Keita Nakamura
Distance 88.3% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 5.9% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 5.7% (norm 8.1%)
Rob Emerson
Distance 86.2% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 8.1% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 5.6% (norm 8.0%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Keita Nakamura
Head 87.9% (norm 78.2%) · Body 8.4% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 3.7% (norm 8.4%)
Rob Emerson
Head 84.4% (norm 78.2%) · Body 4.7% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 11.0% (norm 7.9%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Nakamura L/A | Acc | Welterweight med | Emerson L/A | Acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 267 / 834 | 32.0% | 38.6% | 138 / 519 | 26.6% | 37.9% |
| In the clinch | 37 / 56 | 66.1% | 67.8% | 27 / 49 | 55.1% | 67.3% |
| On the ground | 33 / 54 | 61.1% | 67.2% | 20 / 34 | 58.8% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 267 / 830 | 32.2% | 37.2% | 104 / 508 | 20.5% | 35.0% |
| To the body | 49 / 79 | 62.0% | 70.7% | 21 / 28 | 75.0% | 69.1% |
| To the legs | 21 / 35 | 60.0% | 82.9% | 60 / 66 | 90.9% | 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 (Welterweight: 182 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 Nakamura L/A | Opp acc | Welterweight med | vs Emerson L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 379 / 994 | 38.1% | 39.0% | 130 / 455 | 28.6% | 38.9% |
| In the clinch | 76 / 114 | 66.7% | 68.9% | 37 / 59 | 62.7% | 68.6% |
| On the ground | 69 / 129 | 53.5% | 68.0% | 43 / 83 | 51.8% | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 346 / 1016 | 34.1% | 35.6% | 130 / 495 | 26.3% | 35.1% |
| To the body | 104 / 141 | 73.8% | 69.6% | 42 / 56 | 75.0% | 68.1% |
| To the legs | 74 / 80 | 92.5% | 82.1% | 38 / 46 | 82.6% | 81.5% |
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 — Nakamura has more cage time on record.