Clifford Starks vs.
Yoel Romero
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.
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
Yoel Romero
Full career not yet synced for Yoel Romero — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 8-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.0 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)
Clifford Starks
Distance 84.6% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 3.7% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 11.8% (norm 10.3%)
Yoel Romero
Distance 81.0% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 8.7% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 10.4% (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%)
Yoel Romero
Head 72.8% (norm 78.0%) · Body 13.3% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 13.9% (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/A | Acc | Middleweight med | Romero L/A | Acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 35 / 115 | 30.4% | 40.5% | 487 / 1095 | 44.5% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 3 / 5 | too few to rate | 70.3% | 80 / 117 | 68.4% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 7 / 16 | too few to rate | 69.1% | 100 / 140 | 71.4% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 40 / 126 | 31.7% | 38.9% | 403 / 984 | 41.0% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 4 / 9 | too few to rate | 71.7% | 119 / 180 | 66.1% | 71.7% |
| To the legs | 1 / 1 | too few to rate | 83.3% | 145 / 188 | 77.1% | 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/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med | vs Romero L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 38 / 120 | 31.7% | 39.5% | 537 / 1413 | 38.0% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 16 / 17 | too few to rate | 70.9% | 37 / 67 | 55.2% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 4 / 4 | too few to rate | 69.0% | 22 / 37 | 59.5% | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 30 / 109 | 27.5% | 37.9% | 286 / 1037 | 27.6% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 19 / 20 | too few to rate | 71.3% | 158 / 282 | 56.0% | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 9 / 12 | too few to rate | 82.1% | 152 / 198 | 76.8% | 82.1% |
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 — Romero has more cage time on record.