Mike Pierce vs.
Rousimar Palhares
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.
Mike Pierce
Full career not yet synced for Mike Pierce — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 3-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.5 wins over .500
Rousimar Palhares
Full career not yet synced for Rousimar Palhares — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 4-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.4 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)
Mike Pierce
Distance 66.6% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 19.3% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 14.1% (norm 8.1%)
Rousimar Palhares
Distance 70.7% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 5.9% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 23.4% (norm 10.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Mike Pierce
Head 80.4% (norm 78.2%) · Body 10.8% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 8.7% (norm 8.4%)
Rousimar Palhares
Head 82.0% (norm 78.0%) · Body 6.6% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 11.3% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Pierce L/A | Acc | Welterweight med | Palhares L/A | Acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 212 / 695 | 30.5% | 38.6% | 88 / 181 | 48.6% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 126 / 201 | 62.7% | 67.8% | 9 / 15 | too few to rate | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 104 / 147 | 70.7% | 67.2% | 34 / 60 | 56.7% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 281 / 839 | 33.5% | 37.2% | 93 / 210 | 44.3% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 83 / 113 | 73.5% | 70.7% | 13 / 17 | too few to rate | 71.7% |
| To the legs | 78 / 91 | 85.7% | 82.9% | 25 / 29 | 86.2% | 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 (Welterweight: 182 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 Pierce L/A | Opp acc | Welterweight med | vs Palhares L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 264 / 859 | 30.7% | 39.0% | 97 / 272 | 35.7% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 136 / 216 | 63.0% | 68.9% | 6 / 15 | too few to rate | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 10 / 11 | too few to rate | 68.0% | 62 / 110 | 56.4% | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 247 / 863 | 28.6% | 35.6% | 150 / 374 | 40.1% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 125 / 170 | 73.5% | 69.6% | 9 / 14 | too few to rate | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 38 / 53 | 71.7% | 82.1% | 6 / 9 | too few to rate | 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 — Pierce has more cage time on record.