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Matt Hughes vs. Joe Riggs

UFC 18-7-0 vs. 5-7-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
18-7-0
UFC record
5-7-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
53
AgeΔ 9 yrs
44
5'9"
HeightΔ 3"
6'0"
73"
ReachΔ 3"
70"
Switch
Stance
Southpaw
180.8
Layoff (months)Δ 52.9 mo
127.9
LLWWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LWLLL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Matt Hughes owns the mat — in control 57% of cage time, vs a 18% Welterweight norm.
Matt Hughes is a submission threat — 1.08 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.44 Welterweight norm.
Joe Riggs hunts takedowns — 2.92 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.31 Welterweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Matt Hughes

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 187
Tier 3 — regional circuit 272

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.36 · 18 tier-1/2 wins · 35 finish wins over 54 documented bouts

In the UFC: 10-6 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.1 wins over .500

Joe Riggs

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 68
Tier 3 — regional circuit 4310

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.67 · 6 tier-1/2 wins · 44 finish wins over 70 documented bouts

In the UFC: 1-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.6 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

5312.38/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
1652.47/min · norm 3.17
2861.28/min · norm 3.08
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
1281.92/min · norm 3.08
55.0%norm 44.75%
Striking accuracy
50.8%norm 44.75%
54.5%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
52.4%norm 55.25%
30.20/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
10.22/15 · norm 0.38

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

Matt Hughes

Distance 44.0% (norm 80.7%) · Clinch 6.3% (norm 9.6%) · Ground 49.6% (norm 8.1%)

Joe Riggs

Distance 46.2% (norm 80.7%) · Clinch 19.1% (norm 9.6%) · Ground 34.8% (norm 8.1%)

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

Matt Hughes

Head 81.3% (norm 78.3%) · Body 13.0% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 5.7% (norm 8.0%)

Joe Riggs

Head 88.6% (norm 78.3%) · Body 8.0% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 3.4% (norm 8.0%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Hughes L/AAccWelterweight med Riggs L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 153 / 425 36.0% 38.5% 62 / 150 41.3% 38.5%
In the clinch 46 / 61 75.4% 67.8% 37 / 62 59.7% 67.8%
On the ground 332 / 479 69.3% 67.0% 66 / 113 58.4% 67.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 364 / 785 46.4% 36.4% 136 / 288 47.2% 36.4%
To the body 117 / 125 93.6% 70.7% 19 / 26 73.1% 70.7%
To the legs 50 / 55 90.9% 83.0% 10 / 11 too few to rate 83.0%

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: 180 fighters · Welterweight: 180 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 Hughes L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Riggs L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 138 / 430 32.1% 39.1% 59 / 173 34.1% 39.1%
In the clinch 49 / 62 79.0% 68.9% 47 / 66 71.2% 68.9%
On the ground 99 / 136 72.8% 68.0% 22 / 30 73.3% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 196 / 503 39.0% 35.6% 77 / 192 40.1% 35.6%
To the body 63 / 87 72.4% 69.6% 30 / 47 63.8% 69.6%
To the legs 27 / 38 71.1% 82.2% 21 / 30 70.0% 82.2%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
4751.1% acc · 3.16/15 · norm 1.31
Takedowns landed
1361.9% acc · 2.92/15 · norm 1.31
635.3% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
1872.0% def · norm 63.9%
117:5156.6% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
22:0833.2% of cage time · norm 18.5%
29:371:59 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control lower is better
17:023:49 per 15 · norm 3:15
161.08/15 · norm 0.44
Submission attempts
20.45/15 · norm 0.44

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