Ken Shamrock vs.
Royce Gracie
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.
Ken Shamrock
Full career not yet synced for Ken Shamrock — 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 +3.5 wins over .500
Royce Gracie
Full career not yet synced for Royce Gracie — 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 +1.6 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)
Ken Shamrock
Distance 51.2% (norm 50.2%) · Clinch 14.0% (norm 14.9%) · Ground 34.7% (norm 28.7%)
Royce Gracie
Distance 48.0% (norm 50.2%) · Clinch 30.7% (norm 14.9%) · Ground 21.3% (norm 28.7%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Ken Shamrock
Head 85.3% (norm 81.2%) · Body 11.9% (norm 8.0%) · Legs 2.8% (norm 5.2%)
Royce Gracie
Head 48.0% (norm 81.2%) · Body 18.7% (norm 8.0%) · Legs 33.3% (norm 5.2%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Shamrock L/A | Acc | Open Weight med | Gracie L/A | Acc | Open Weight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 23 / 146 | 15.8% | 27.8% | 10 / 36 | 27.8% | 27.8% |
| In the clinch | 27 / 40 | 67.5% | 63.8% | 14 / 23 | too few to rate | 63.8% |
| On the ground | 67 / 99 | 67.7% | 65.8% | 12 / 16 | too few to rate | 65.8% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 79 / 243 | 32.5% | 39.3% | 18 / 36 | 50.0% | 39.3% |
| To the body | 30 / 34 | 88.2% | 90.5% | 7 / 14 | too few to rate | 90.5% |
| To the legs | 8 / 8 | too few to rate | 53.5% | 11 / 25 | 44.0% | 53.5% |
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 (Open Weight: 11 fighters · Open Weight: 11 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 Shamrock L/A | Opp acc | Open Weight med | vs Gracie L/A | Opp acc | Open Weight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 49 / 165 | 29.7% | 37.0% | 5 / 14 | too few to rate | 37.0% |
| In the clinch | 38 / 57 | 66.7% | 66.7% | 7 / 9 | too few to rate | 66.7% |
| On the ground | 77 / 109 | 70.6% | 67.1% | 48 / 79 | 60.8% | 67.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 134 / 288 | 46.5% | 47.0% | 40 / 79 | 50.6% | 47.0% |
| To the body | 17 / 20 | too few to rate | 87.9% | 12 / 14 | too few to rate | 87.9% |
| To the legs | 13 / 23 | too few to rate | 61.2% | 8 / 9 | too few to rate | 61.2% |
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 — Shamrock has more cage time on record.