Justin Tafa vs.
Austen Lane
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.
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
Austen Lane
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 2 | 6 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 2 | 1 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 9 | 1 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.48 · 4 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 22 documented bouts
In the UFC: 0-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.4 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)
Justin Tafa
Distance 89.2% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 8.1% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 2.7% (norm 9.3%)
Austen Lane
Distance 83.6% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 3.0% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 13.3% (norm 9.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Justin Tafa
Head 73.6% (norm 79.2%) · Body 18.5% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 7.9% (norm 7.6%)
Austen Lane
Head 67.3% (norm 79.2%) · Body 20.0% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 12.7% (norm 7.6%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Tafa L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med | Lane L/A | Acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 187 / 362 | 51.7% | 40.1% | 72 / 138 | 52.2% | 40.1% |
| In the clinch | 26 / 33 | 78.8% | 70.6% | 1 / 5 | too few to rate | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 8 / 11 | too few to rate | 70.2% | 12 / 22 | too few to rate | 70.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 129 / 299 | 43.1% | 38.9% | 43 / 111 | 38.7% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 62 / 75 | 82.7% | 76.8% | 25 / 33 | 75.8% | 76.8% |
| To the legs | 30 / 32 | 93.8% | 87.8% | 17 / 21 | too few to rate | 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 Tafa L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med | vs Lane L/A | Opp acc | Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 221 / 447 | 49.4% | 40.7% | 58 / 100 | 58.0% | 40.7% |
| In the clinch | 36 / 48 | 75.0% | 70.6% | 15 / 20 | too few to rate | 70.6% |
| On the ground | 22 / 32 | 68.8% | 72.0% | 15 / 18 | too few to rate | 72.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 157 / 381 | 41.2% | 38.8% | 66 / 114 | 57.9% | 38.8% |
| To the body | 80 / 101 | 79.2% | 75.1% | 8 / 8 | too few to rate | 75.1% |
| To the legs | 42 / 45 | 93.3% | 84.4% | 14 / 16 | too few to rate | 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.