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Renato Sobral vs. Chael Sonnen

UFC 6-4-0 vs. 7-7-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
6-4-0
UFC record
7-7-0
Light Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
51
AgeΔ 2 yrs
49
6'1"
HeightΔ 0"
6'1"
75"
ReachΔ 2"
73"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
229.8
Layoff (months)Δ 74.7 mo
155.1
WLLWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LWLLW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Renato Sobral is a submission threat — 3.16 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Light Heavyweight norm.
Chael Sonnen owns the mat — in control 69% of cage time, vs a 19% Middleweight norm.
Renato Sobral hunts takedowns — 2.97 per 15 minutes, vs a 0.87 Light Heavyweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Renato Sobral

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 76
Tier 3 — regional circuit 306

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.84 · 7 tier-1/2 wins · 24 finish wins over 49 documented bouts

In the UFC: 3-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.1 wins over .500

Chael Sonnen

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 1110
Tier 3 — regional circuit 197

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.46 · 11 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 48 documented bouts

In the UFC: 6-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.6 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

1622.01/min · norm 3.48
Sig. strikes landed
4102.88/min · norm 3.23
1011.25/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
1881.32/min · norm 3.20
52.3%norm 48.45%
Striking accuracy
45.6%norm 47.4%
50.7%norm 52.75%
Striking defense
62.2%norm 53.8%
00.00/15 · norm 0.40
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.32

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

Renato Sobral

Distance 29.0% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 10.0% (norm 8.8%) · Ground 61.0% (norm 10.6%)

Chael Sonnen

Distance 48.8% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 11.7% (norm 9.0%) · Ground 39.6% (norm 10.0%)

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

Renato Sobral

Head 79.4% (norm 78.5%) · Body 10.6% (norm 11.8%) · Legs 10.0% (norm 9.7%)

Chael Sonnen

Head 77.4% (norm 78.0%) · Body 11.2% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 11.3% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Sobral L/AAccLight Heavyweight med Sonnen L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 37 / 90 41.1% 41.5% 124 / 439 28.2% 40.5%
In the clinch 20 / 31 64.5% 70.8% 73 / 105 69.5% 70.6%
On the ground 105 / 189 55.6% 72.9% 213 / 356 59.8% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 110 / 246 44.7% 39.2% 259 / 697 37.2% 38.8%
To the body 25 / 33 75.8% 72.0% 68 / 101 67.3% 71.6%
To the legs 27 / 31 87.1% 82.1% 83 / 102 81.4% 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 (Light Heavyweight: 94 fighters · Middleweight: 178 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 Sobral L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med vs Sonnen L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 39 / 95 41.1% 40.6% 83 / 344 24.1% 39.5%
In the clinch 11 / 16 too few to rate 68.8% 35 / 56 62.5% 70.4%
On the ground 51 / 94 54.3% 70.4% 70 / 97 72.2% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 82 / 181 45.3% 37.7% 139 / 431 32.3% 37.9%
To the body 12 / 16 too few to rate 72.9% 41 / 56 73.2% 71.3%
To the legs 7 / 8 too few to rate 83.1% 8 / 10 too few to rate 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
1666.7% acc · 2.97/15 · norm 0.87
Takedowns landed
3753.6% acc · 3.89/15 · norm 1.35
550.0% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
1557.7% def · norm 63.3%
41:2651.4% of cage time · norm 17.1%
Control time
98:5469.4% of cage time · norm 19.4%
23:214:20 per 15 · norm 2:50
Time under control lower is better
18:461:58 per 15 · norm 3:00
173.16/15 · norm 0.28
Submission attempts
40.42/15 · norm 0.45

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