BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Justin Tafa vs.
Yorgan De Castro

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

4-5-0 (1 NC) Justin Tafa · UFC
1-3-0 Yorgan De Castro · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

4-5-0 (1 NC)
UFC record
1-3-0
Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Heavyweight
32.6
AgeΔ 7 yrs
39.6
6'0"
HeightΔ 0"
6'0"
74"
ReachΔ 0"
74"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
17.9
Layoff (months)Δ 46 mo
63.9
LLWNCW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLW
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.

Justin Tafa carries real power — 1.10 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Heavyweight norm.
Yorgan De Castro rarely shoots — 0.00 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.95 Heavyweight norm.
Justin Tafa rarely shoots — 0.00 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.95 Heavyweight 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.

Justin Tafa

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 45
Tier 3 — regional circuit 30

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

Yorgan De Castro

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

In the UFC: 0-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record -0.5 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

2214.05/min · norm 3.36
Sig. strikes landed
782.22/min · norm 3.36
2795.11/min · norm 3.19
Sig. strikes absorbed
1494.23/min · norm 3.19
54.4%norm 47.8%
Striking accuracy
40.6%norm 47.8%
47.1%norm 52.5%
Striking defense
53.7%norm 52.5%
41.10/15 · norm 0.28
Knockdowns
10.43/15 · norm 0.28

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%)

Yorgan De Castro

Distance 97.4% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 2.6% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 0.0% (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%)

Yorgan De Castro

Head 71.4% (norm 79.2%) · Body 10.4% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 18.2% (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/AAccHeavyweight med Castro L/AAccHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 187 / 362 51.7% 40.1% 78 / 187 41.7% 40.1%
In the clinch 26 / 33 78.8% 70.6% 0 / 5 too few to rate 70.6%
On the ground 8 / 11 too few to rate 70.2% 0 / 0 too few to rate 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 129 / 299 43.1% 38.9% 34 / 137 24.8% 38.9%
To the body 62 / 75 82.7% 76.8% 12 / 20 too few to rate 76.8%
To the legs 30 / 32 93.8% 87.8% 32 / 35 91.4% 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/AOpp accHeavyweight med vs Castro L/AOpp accHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 221 / 447 49.4% 40.7% 130 / 298 43.6% 40.7%
In the clinch 36 / 48 75.0% 70.6% 18 / 23 too few to rate 70.6%
On the ground 22 / 32 68.8% 72.0% 1 / 1 too few to rate 72.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 157 / 381 41.2% 38.8% 68 / 219 31.1% 38.8%
To the body 80 / 101 79.2% 75.1% 37 / 50 74.0% 75.1%
To the legs 42 / 45 93.3% 84.4% 44 / 53 83.0% 84.4%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

00.0% acc · 0.00/15 · norm 0.95
Takedowns landed
00.0% acc · 0.00/15 · norm 0.95
853.3% def · norm 64.3%
Takedowns stopped
1100.0% def · norm 64.3%
4:258.1% of cage time · norm 17.2%
Control time
3:3310.1% of cage time · norm 17.2%
11:593:17 per 15 · norm 2:28
Time under control
4:121:47 per 15 · norm 2:28
00.00/15 · norm 0.16
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.16

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.