BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Sean Sherk vs.
Jutaro Nakao

Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.

8-4-0 Sean Sherk · UFC
1-1-0 Jutaro Nakao · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.

8-4-0
UFC record
1-1-0
Lightweight
Division (benchmark)
Welterweight
53
AgeΔ 2 yrs
55
5'6"
HeightΔ 3"
5'9"
67"
Reach
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
190.3
Layoff (months)Δ 102.2 mo
292.5
WLWLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LW
The read

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.

Sean Sherk hunts takedowns — 4.01 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.38 Lightweight norm.
Sean Sherk owns the mat — in control 47% of cage time, vs a 20% Lightweight norm.
Jutaro Nakao rarely shoots — 0.00 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.27 Welterweight norm.
Level of competition

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.

Sean Sherk

Full career not yet synced for Sean Sherk — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 7-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.6 wins over .500

Jutaro Nakao

Full career not yet synced for Jutaro Nakao — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 1-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.5 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4152.22/min · norm 3.42
Sig. strikes landed
120.59/min · norm 3.17
5452.92/min · norm 3.37
Sig. strikes absorbed
221.09/min · norm 3.06
34.7%norm 43.5%
Striking accuracy
42.9%norm 44.9%
55.1%norm 56.3%
Striking defense
37.1%norm 55.25%
00.00/15 · norm 0.25
Knockdowns
10.74/15 · norm 0.38

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

Sean Sherk

Distance 73.0% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 11.3% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 15.7% (norm 8.0%)

Jutaro Nakao

Distance 71.4% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 21.4% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 7.1% (norm 8.1%)

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

Sean Sherk

Head 90.6% (norm 78.2%) · Body 3.8% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 5.5% (norm 7.9%)

Jutaro Nakao

Head 57.1% (norm 78.2%) · Body 21.4% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 21.4% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Sherk L/AAccLightweight med Nakao L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 220 / 873 25.2% 37.9% 8 / 20 too few to rate 38.6%
In the clinch 65 / 135 48.1% 67.3% 2 / 6 too few to rate 67.8%
On the ground 130 / 188 69.1% 69.1% 2 / 2 too few to rate 67.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 311 / 1084 28.7% 35.0% 4 / 16 too few to rate 37.2%
To the body 43 / 46 93.5% 69.1% 2 / 6 too few to rate 70.7%
To the legs 61 / 66 92.4% 81.9% 6 / 6 too few to rate 82.9%

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 (Lightweight: 201 fighters · Welterweight: 182 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 Sherk L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Nakao L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 425 / 1030 41.3% 38.9% 2 / 9 too few to rate 39.0%
In the clinch 52 / 79 65.8% 68.6% 6 / 8 too few to rate 68.9%
On the ground 68 / 104 65.4% 68.0% 14 / 18 too few to rate 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 426 / 1062 40.1% 35.1% 16 / 28 57.1% 35.6%
To the body 93 / 115 80.9% 68.1% 1 / 2 too few to rate 69.6%
To the legs 26 / 36 72.2% 81.5% 5 / 5 too few to rate 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.

5044.2% acc · 4.01/15 · norm 1.38
Takedowns landed
00.0% acc · 0.00/15 · norm 1.27
1356.5% def · norm 64.0%
Takedowns stopped
750.0% def · norm 63.9%
87:1746.7% of cage time · norm 19.5%
Control time
4:1320.8% of cage time · norm 18.5%
22:161:47 per 15 · norm 2:46
Time under control
12:119:01 per 15 · norm 3:15
40.32/15 · norm 0.49
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.45

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.