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UFC 42: Sudden Impact
Matt Hughes
Matt Hughes
33-3 · USA
VS
Sean Sherk
Sean Sherk
19-0-1 · USA
April 25, 2003 · Miami, Florida, USA
Welterweight · 5 rounds · Main event
170.0lb
Weigh-in
168.0lb
Matt Hughes def. Sean Sherk by U-DEC, R5 5:00
Performance
Round by round
SSTDKDCtrl
R1
Hughes11/182/404:46
Sherk0/10/000:00
R2
Hughes8/182/204:05
Sherk4/90/000:00
R3
Hughes3/140/000:09
Sherk12/222/303:05
R4
Hughes16/251/104:31
Sherk0/20/100:00
R5
Hughes6/130/001:28
Sherk3/51/102:41
Total
Hughes44/885/7014:59
Sherk19/393/505:46

Scorecards

Hughes vs Sherk

RdDouglas CrosbyEddie MillisJeff MullenCommunity
R1---10-8.8
R2---10-8.9
R3---9.1-9.9
R4---10-8.8
R5---9.7-9.3
Total49-4648-4748-4548.8-45.7

Media (1 card) · avg 4946 · 1 Hughes · 0 Sherk

Official cards + public consensus via MMA Decisions. Per round: Hughes-Sherk.

Pre-fight

The model's read going in

The walk-forward model's call at the time of the bout — persisted out-of-sample, with no hindsight about the result.

Prediction
HughesWin probabilitySherk
41.9%58.1%
KO / TKO
23%
Submission
18%
Decision
59%
Expected fight time: 18.1 min
What drives the pick

Each bar is a feature's push on the model from the center axis. Red pushes toward Hughes, blue toward Sherk. Tap a bar for why.

Predicted outcomes
Hughes42%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO14%33%
Submission8%20%
Decision20%47%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes50 (2865)act 44
Takedowns1.3 (0.03.7)act 5
Sherk58%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO10%16%
Submission9%16%
Decision39%68%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes41 (2353)act 19
Takedowns0.7 (0.02.6)act 3
Combined totals~90 sig strikes~2.0 takedownsmkt —
How it ends
mkt —
R119%
R210%
R36%
R44%
R52%
Distance59%
Fighter props
Most sig. strikestie 1.2%
Hughes
58.7%-146
Sherk
+14640.1%
Most takedownstie 31.3%
Hughes
44.3%-181
Sherk
+18124.4%
Significant strikes — over/under
Hughes
Expected: 49.7
49.5
Over 49.5
42.7%
+134
Under 49.5
57.3%
-134
063125
Sherk
Expected: 40.6
40.5
Over 40.5
42.7%
+134
Under 40.5
57.3%
-134
051102
Takedowns — over/under
Hughes
Expected: 1.3
1.5
Over 1.5
40.0%
+150
Under 1.5
60.0%
-150
035
Sherk
Expected: 0.7
0.5
Over 0.5
39.3%
+155
Under 0.5
60.7%
-155
035

Odds are model-implied (no real prop market is priced for these). The “most” prices are draw-no-bet — a tie (for takedowns, usually 0–0) is a push, so each side is priced off its chance of winning given a result, while the % shown is the raw chance of landing strictly more. Drag a line in half-point steps: a half line (e.g. 2.5) is a clean over/under, while a whole number adds a third outcome — landing exactly on it, a push — so over, exact and under sum to 100%. On a whole number the over/under odds are draw-no-bet (priced off the decisive mass, since the push refunds), so the two sides stay mirror images rather than implying an arbitrage.

Expected fight time 18.1 min. Predicted-output ranges are percentiles of the model’s simulated fights: sig strikes the middle 50% (25th–75th); takedowns the wider 10th–90th, since they’re 0 in most fights so a narrow band would collapse to 0. Win-by-method = win probability × that fighter’s own method split: the model forecasts how the fight ends, and that forecast is divided between the corners by each fighter’s finishing record — UFC wins in full, earlier-career wins at half weight, as of fight night — reconciled so the fighters’ totals still equal their win probabilities and the methods still total the fight-level forecast above. “Equity” is each of those over that fighter’s win % — how they win given that they win — so a column adds to 100%, and it differs by corner. A fighter with no classifiable wins at any level leans on the fight-level split. “How it ends” is the model’s round-of-finish split. “Mkt” is the de-vigged market prop (consensus across books), shown for context, not as a betting signal; rounds & totals slots fill as that data lands. Percentages are apportioned by largest remainder, so each set adds to its total exactly and an individual figure can sit a point off its own rounding.

Model vs market
Final
ModelMarketGapLine
To win
Hughes41.9%81.1%−39.2-600
Sherk58.1%18.9%+39.2+400

Market % is the de-vigged (no-vig) consensus across the books that price both fighters; the line is the average across books with the min–max range in parentheses. Gap is the model minus the market in points (+ = the model rates that outcome above the market). Thin or one-sided markets are flagged or left blank rather than shown as a fabricated %. Shown for context, not as a bet — the closing line is the sharpest public price and the model trails it on average. For 5-round bouts the model splits its round-3+ finish mass into rounds 3–5 by the historical within-bucket rate, so the over-3.5 / 4.5 lines carry a model estimate.

Trait web
86.2Striking78.4
Hughes +7.7
80.5Grappling47.7
Hughes +32.8
Str/minStr accStr defAbsorbedTD/15TD accTD defSubs
Hover a point to see the values
HughesSherk
Tale of the tape
Ratings (Elo)
1592
Pound-for-pound
1577
1581
Divisional
1578
1513
Striking offense
1484
1523
Striking defense
1514
1538
Grappling offense
1550
1530
Grappling defense
1541
Physical
29 yrs
Age
29 yrs
5'9"
Height
5'6"
73"
Reach
67"
Switch
Stance
Orthodox
Striking (UFC career)
3.24
Strikes landed / min
1.34
67%
Strike accuracy
72%
0.29
Strikes absorbed / min
0.41
65%
Strike defense
73%
Grappling (UFC career)
5.74
Takedowns / 15 min
6.20
74%
Takedown accuracy
50%
100%
Takedown defense
0.4
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.0
Form & résumé
86%
UFC win rate
100%
+4
Win/loss streak
+3
80%
Last-5 win rate
100%
83%
Finish rate
67%
Recent opp. quality
154
Days since last fight
210
Recent form (last 5 UFC)
Matt Hughes
  • WGil CastilloKO/TKO R1
    Close -5505mo before
  • WCarlos NewtonKO/TKO R4
    9mo before
  • WHayato SakuraiKO/TKO R4
    1y 1mo before
  • WCarlos NewtonKO/TKO R2
    1y 6mo before
  • LDennis HallmanSUB R1
    2y 4mo before
Sean Sherk
  • WBenji RadachKO/TKO R1
    7mo before
  • WJutaro NakaoU-DEC R3
    1y 1mo before
  • WTiki GhosnSUB R2
    2y 2mo before
Hughes — win / loss by method
Record: 33-3-0

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
18 wins, 1 loss
W
55% of wins
L
33% of losses
Submission
9 wins, 2 losses
W
27% of wins
L
67% of losses
Decision
6 wins, 0 losses
W
18% of wins
L
0% of losses
UFC
6win1loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
5 (83%)KO/TKO(0%) 0
0 (0%)Submission(100%) 1
1 (17%)Decision(0%) 0
Non-UFC
27win2loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
13 (48%)KO/TKO(50%) 1
9 (33%)Submission(50%) 1
5 (19%)Decision(0%) 0
Sherk — win / loss by method
Record: 19-0-1

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
6 wins, 0 losses
W
32% of wins
L
Submission
4 wins, 0 losses
W
21% of wins
L
Decision
9 wins, 0 losses
W
47% of wins
L
UFC
3win0loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
1 (33%)KO/TKO() 0
1 (33%)Submission() 0
1 (33%)Decision() 0
Non-UFC
16win0loss1draw0NC
WinsLosses
5 (31%)KO/TKO() 0
3 (19%)Submission() 0
8 (50%)Decision() 0

Profiles

Experience
Hughes
Sherk
7
UFC fights
3
68.0 min · 9.7 avg
Octagon time
29.1 min · 9.7 avg
28y 7m
Career length
27y 1m
UFC schedule strength

Opponents' records on fight night — toggle their full cross-promotional record vs UFC bouts only.

Hughes
Sherk
64W–17L · 79.0%
Overall
26W–8L · 76.5%
48W–14L · 77.4%
Wins
26W–8L · 76.5%
16W–3L · 84.2%
Losses
0W–0L
Non-UFC schedule strength
Hughes
Sherk
139W–66L · 67.8%
Overall
39W–17L · 69.6%
114W–62L · 64.8%
Wins
39W–17L · 69.6%
25W–4L · 86.2%
Losses
0W–0L
Distance striking
Hughes
Sherk
1.34
Landed / min
1.10
45.5%
Accuracy
30.0%
73.9%
Defense
76.7%
0.00
Knockdowns / 15 min
0.00
27.3%
Time at distance
9.4%
Grappling & control
Hughes
Sherk
5.74
Takedowns / 15 min
6.20
74.3%
Takedown accuracy
50.0%
100.0%
Takedown defense
0.44
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.00
94.9%
Control share
99.4%
Strike target map
Hughes
  • Head75%(164)div 65%
  • Body25%(54)div 21%
  • Legs1%(2)div 13%
Sherk
  • Head85%(33)div 65%
  • Body3%(1)div 21%
  • Legs13%(5)div 13%

Where each fighter lands significant strikes (career). “div” = the weight-class average.

Matt Hughes
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.

Sean Sherk
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.