BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Clifford Starks vs.
Ed Herman

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

1-2-0 Clifford Starks · UFC
13-12-0 (1 NC) Ed Herman · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

1-2-0
UFC record
13-12-0 (1 NC)
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
45.3
AgeΔ 0.5 yrs
45.8
6'0"
HeightΔ 1"
6'1"
78"
ReachΔ 1"
77"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
159.5
Layoff (months)Δ 119.8 mo
39.7
LLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWWW
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.

Ed Herman is a submission threat — 0.99 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.47 Middleweight norm.
Clifford Starks owns the mat — in control 38% of cage time, vs a 20% Middleweight norm.
Ed Herman hunts takedowns — 1.99 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight 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.

Clifford Starks

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

In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.3 wins over .500

Ed Herman

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

In the UFC: 6-8 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.8 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

451.94/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
8513.31/min · norm 3.25
582.49/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
9513.70/min · norm 3.20
33.1%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
48.8%norm 47.4%
58.9%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
42.4%norm 53.8%
00.00/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
40.23/15 · norm 0.32

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

Clifford Starks

Distance 84.6% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 3.7% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 11.8% (norm 10.3%)

Ed Herman

Distance 65.0% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 19.3% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 15.7% (norm 10.3%)

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

Clifford Starks

Head 92.6% (norm 78.0%) · Body 6.6% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 0.7% (norm 8.4%)

Ed Herman

Head 78.2% (norm 78.0%) · Body 15.0% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 6.8% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Starks L/AAccMiddleweight med Herman L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 35 / 115 30.4% 40.5% 423 / 1134 37.3% 40.5%
In the clinch 3 / 5 too few to rate 70.3% 237 / 336 70.5% 70.3%
On the ground 7 / 16 too few to rate 69.1% 191 / 274 69.7% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 40 / 126 31.7% 38.9% 536 / 1363 39.3% 38.9%
To the body 4 / 9 too few to rate 71.7% 214 / 262 81.7% 71.7%
To the legs 1 / 1 too few to rate 83.3% 101 / 119 84.9% 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 (Middleweight: 174 fighters · Middleweight: 174 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 Starks L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Herman L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 38 / 120 31.7% 39.5% 612 / 1191 51.4% 39.5%
In the clinch 16 / 17 too few to rate 70.9% 189 / 239 79.1% 70.9%
On the ground 4 / 4 too few to rate 69.0% 150 / 222 67.6% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 30 / 109 27.5% 37.9% 631 / 1266 49.8% 37.9%
To the body 19 / 20 too few to rate 71.3% 172 / 222 77.5% 71.3%
To the legs 9 / 12 too few to rate 82.1% 148 / 164 90.2% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

3100.0% acc · 1.94/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
3447.9% acc · 1.99/15 · norm 1.42
360.0% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
3861.3% def · norm 63.1%
8:5238.1% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
70:1827.4% of cage time · norm 19.75%
1:260:55 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
75:064:23 per 15 · norm 3:00
00.00/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
170.99/15 · norm 0.47

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.