Jared Vanderaa vs.
Justin Tafa
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.
Jared Vanderaa
Full career not yet synced for Jared Vanderaa — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 0-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.6 wins over .500
Justin Tafa
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 4 | 5 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 3 | 0 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.86 · 4 tier-1/2 wins · 7 finish wins over 13 documented bouts
In the UFC: 1-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.0 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)
Jared Vanderaa
Distance 92.1% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 6.9% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 1.0% (norm 9.3%)
Justin Tafa
Distance 89.2% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 8.1% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 2.7% (norm 9.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Jared Vanderaa
Head 75.4% (norm 79.2%) · Body 12.4% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 12.2% (norm 7.6%)
Justin Tafa
Head 73.6% (norm 79.2%) · Body 18.5% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 7.9% (norm 7.6%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Vanderaa L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med | Tafa L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 347 / 824 | 42.1% | 40.1% | 187 / 362 | 51.7% | 40.1% |
| In the clinch | 43 / 62 | 69.4% | 70.6% | 26 / 33 | 78.8% | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 7 / 9 | too few to rate | 70.2% | 8 / 11 | too few to rate | 70.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 207 / 675 | 30.7% | 38.9% | 129 / 299 | 43.1% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 88 / 111 | 79.3% | 76.8% | 62 / 75 | 82.7% | 76.8% |
| To the legs | 102 / 109 | 93.6% | 87.8% | 30 / 32 | 93.8% | 87.8% |
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 (Heavyweight: 93 fighters · Heavyweight: 93 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 Vanderaa L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med | vs Tafa L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 363 / 720 | 50.4% | 40.7% | 221 / 447 | 49.4% | 40.7% |
| In the clinch | 11 / 13 | too few to rate | 70.6% | 36 / 48 | 75.0% | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 89 / 112 | 79.5% | 72.0% | 22 / 32 | 68.8% | 72.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 304 / 648 | 46.9% | 38.8% | 157 / 381 | 41.2% | 38.8% |
| To the body | 117 / 148 | 79.1% | 75.1% | 80 / 101 | 79.2% | 75.1% |
| To the legs | 42 / 49 | 85.7% | 84.4% | 42 / 45 | 93.3% | 84.4% |
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 — Tafa has more cage time on record.