BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Luke Rockhold 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.

6-5-0 Luke Rockhold · UFC
9-4-0 Yoel Romero · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

6-5-0
UFC record
9-4-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
41
AgeΔ 8 yrs
49
6'3"
HeightΔ 3"
6'0"
77"
ReachΔ 4"
73"
Southpaw
Stance
Southpaw
47.5
Layoff (months)Δ 29.5 mo
77
LLLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWL
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.

Yoel Romero carries real power — 0.78 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.
Luke Rockhold is a submission threat — 1.06 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.47 Middleweight norm.
Luke Rockhold outworks the Middleweight division — 4.42 sig. strikes landed per minute, vs a 3.25 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.

Luke Rockhold

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

In the UFC: 6-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.5 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

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

3764.42/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
6673.49/min · norm 3.25
2853.35/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
5963.11/min · norm 3.20
56.9%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
49.3%norm 47.4%
48.3%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
60.7%norm 53.8%
20.35/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
100.78/15 · norm 0.32

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

Luke Rockhold

Distance 68.7% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 5.3% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 26.0% (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)

Luke Rockhold

Head 71.0% (norm 78.0%) · Body 18.8% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 10.3% (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 Rockhold L/AAccMiddleweight med Romero L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 223 / 454 49.1% 40.5% 487 / 1095 44.5% 40.5%
In the clinch 26 / 35 74.3% 70.3% 80 / 117 68.4% 70.3%
On the ground 127 / 172 73.8% 69.1% 100 / 140 71.4% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 221 / 469 47.1% 38.9% 403 / 984 41.0% 38.9%
To the body 97 / 124 78.2% 71.7% 119 / 180 66.1% 71.7%
To the legs 58 / 68 85.3% 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 Rockhold L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Romero L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 216 / 470 46.0% 39.5% 537 / 1413 38.0% 39.5%
In the clinch 38 / 46 82.6% 70.9% 37 / 67 55.2% 70.9%
On the ground 31 / 35 88.6% 69.0% 22 / 37 59.5% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 149 / 384 38.8% 37.9% 286 / 1037 27.6% 37.9%
To the body 84 / 112 75.0% 71.3% 158 / 282 56.0% 71.3%
To the legs 52 / 55 94.5% 82.1% 152 / 198 76.8% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

630.0% acc · 1.06/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
2133.3% acc · 1.65/15 · norm 1.42
753.8% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
2980.6% def · norm 63.1%
18:4222.0% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
24:3012.8% of cage time · norm 19.75%
14:182:31 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
10:090:47 per 15 · norm 3:00
61.06/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.47

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.