Roy Nelson vs.
Josh Barnett
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.
Roy Nelson
Full career not yet synced for Roy Nelson — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 5-8 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.0 wins over .500
Josh Barnett
Full career not yet synced for Josh Barnett — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 4-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.3 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)
Roy Nelson
Distance 82.5% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 13.0% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 4.5% (norm 9.3%)
Josh Barnett
Distance 44.7% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 34.4% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 20.9% (norm 9.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Roy Nelson
Head 89.1% (norm 79.2%) · Body 6.3% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 4.6% (norm 7.6%)
Josh Barnett
Head 74.7% (norm 79.2%) · Body 20.4% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 4.9% (norm 7.6%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Nelson L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med | Barnett L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 315 / 970 | 32.5% | 40.1% | 133 / 285 | 46.7% | 40.1% |
| In the clinch | 83 / 153 | 54.2% | 70.6% | 171 / 219 | 78.1% | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 41 / 53 | 77.4% | 70.2% | 88 / 133 | 66.2% | 70.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 341 / 1048 | 32.5% | 38.9% | 248 / 476 | 52.1% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 53 / 74 | 71.6% | 76.8% | 116 / 130 | 89.2% | 76.8% |
| To the legs | 45 / 54 | 83.3% | 87.8% | 28 / 31 | 90.3% | 87.8% |
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 · 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 Nelson L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med | vs Barnett L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 710 / 1438 | 49.4% | 40.7% | 113 / 282 | 40.1% | 40.7% |
| In the clinch | 259 / 354 | 73.2% | 70.6% | 75 / 113 | 66.4% | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 16 / 18 | too few to rate | 72.0% | 32 / 50 | 64.0% | 72.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 640 / 1402 | 45.6% | 38.8% | 145 / 352 | 41.2% | 38.8% |
| To the body | 237 / 293 | 80.9% | 75.1% | 42 / 51 | 82.4% | 75.1% |
| To the legs | 108 / 115 | 93.9% | 84.4% | 33 / 42 | 78.6% | 84.4% |
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 — Nelson has more cage time on record.