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Sean Sherk vs. Jutaro Nakao

UFC 8-4-0 vs. 1-1-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that 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
192.8
Layoff (months)Δ 102.1 mo
294.9
WLWLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Sean Sherk hunts takedowns — 4.01 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.34 Lightweight norm.
Sean Sherk owns the mat — in control 47% of cage time, vs a 19% Lightweight norm.
Jutaro Nakao rarely shoots — 0.00 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.31 Welterweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Sean Sherk

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 94
Tier 3 — regional circuit 270

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.32 · 9 tier-1/2 wins · 21 finish wins over 41 documented bouts

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

Jutaro Nakao

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 11
Tier 3 — regional circuit 2519

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.17 · 1 tier-1/2 wins · 21 finish wins over 50 documented bouts

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

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4152.22/min · norm 3.44
Sig. strikes landed
120.59/min · norm 3.17
5452.92/min · norm 3.38
Sig. strikes absorbed lower is better
221.09/min · norm 3.08
34.7%norm 43.65%
Striking accuracy
42.9%norm 44.75%
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 83.1%) · Clinch 11.3% (norm 7.3%) · Ground 15.7% (norm 8.0%)

Jutaro Nakao

Distance 71.4% (norm 80.7%) · Clinch 21.4% (norm 9.6%) · Ground 7.1% (norm 8.1%)

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

Sean Sherk

Head 90.6% (norm 78.0%) · Body 3.8% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 5.5% (norm 8.0%)

Jutaro Nakao

Head 57.1% (norm 78.3%) · Body 21.4% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 21.4% (norm 8.0%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Sherk L/AAccLightweight med Nakao L/AAccWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 220 / 873 25.2% 38.3% 8 / 20 too few to rate 38.5%
In the clinch 65 / 135 48.1% 67.5% 2 / 6 too few to rate 67.8%
On the ground 130 / 188 69.1% 68.8% 2 / 2 too few to rate 67.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 311 / 1084 28.7% 35.1% 4 / 16 too few to rate 36.4%
To the body 43 / 46 93.5% 69.1% 2 / 6 too few to rate 70.7%
To the legs 61 / 66 92.4% 81.8% 6 / 6 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 (Lightweight: 204 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 Sherk L/AOpp accLightweight med vs Nakao L/AOpp accWelterweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 425 / 1030 41.3% 38.8% 2 / 9 too few to rate 39.1%
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% 35.2% 16 / 28 57.1% 35.6%
To the body 93 / 115 80.9% 68.2% 1 / 2 too few to rate 69.6%
To the legs 26 / 36 72.2% 81.5% 5 / 5 too few to rate 82.2%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
5044.2% acc · 4.01/15 · norm 1.34
Takedowns landed
00.0% acc · 0.00/15 · norm 1.31
1356.5% def · norm 63.7%
Takedowns stopped
750.0% def · norm 63.9%
87:1746.7% of cage time · norm 18.95%
Control time
4:1320.8% of cage time · norm 18.5%
22:161:47 per 15 · norm 2:50
Time under control lower is better
12:119:01 per 15 · norm 3:15
40.32/15 · norm 0.48
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.44

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