BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Mike Rhodes vs.
Robert Whittaker

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

0-3-0 Mike Rhodes · UFC
18-7-0 Robert Whittaker · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

0-3-0
UFC record
18-7-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
36.7
AgeΔ 1.1 yrs
35.6
6'1"
HeightΔ 1"
6'0"
74"
ReachΔ 1"
73"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
139.5
Layoff (months)Δ 138.6 mo
0.9
LLL
Last 5 (newest first)
WLLWW
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.

Robert Whittaker carries real power — 0.53 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.
Robert Whittaker rarely shoots — 0.71 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight norm.
Mike Rhodes absorbs 4.13 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.06 Welterweight norm — hittable.
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.

Mike Rhodes

Full career not yet synced for Mike Rhodes — 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 +0.0 wins over .500

Robert Whittaker

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 187
Tier 3 — regional circuit 92

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.3 · 18 tier-1/2 wins · 16 finish wins over 36 documented bouts

In the UFC: 16-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.1 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

1003.20/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
14894.41/min · norm 3.25
1294.13/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
11483.40/min · norm 3.20
39.4%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
43.4%norm 47.4%
64.4%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
59.2%norm 53.8%
00.00/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
120.53/15 · norm 0.32

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

Mike Rhodes

Distance 94.5% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 5.5% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 0.0% (norm 8.1%)

Robert Whittaker

Distance 90.5% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 4.9% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 4.6% (norm 10.3%)

What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)

Mike Rhodes

Head 74.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 10.6% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 15.4% (norm 8.4%)

Robert Whittaker

Head 83.6% (norm 78.0%) · Body 7.3% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 9.1% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.

Zone Rhodes L/AAccWelterweight med Whittaker L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 92 / 240 38.3% 38.6% 1288 / 3106 41.5% 40.5%
In the clinch 8 / 14 too few to rate 67.8% 100 / 167 59.9% 70.3%
On the ground 0 / 0 too few to rate 67.2% 101 / 159 63.5% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 52 / 188 27.7% 37.2% 1069 / 2869 37.3% 38.9%
To the body 14 / 27 51.9% 70.7% 153 / 250 61.2% 71.7%
To the legs 34 / 39 87.2% 82.9% 267 / 313 85.3% 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 Rhodes L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Whittaker L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 117 / 344 34.0% 39.0% 965 / 2563 37.7% 39.5%
In the clinch 11 / 15 too few to rate 68.9% 120 / 172 69.8% 70.9%
On the ground 1 / 3 too few to rate 68.0% 63 / 77 81.8% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 76 / 292 26.0% 35.6% 645 / 2110 30.6% 37.9%
To the body 21 / 31 67.7% 69.6% 234 / 378 61.9% 71.3%
To the legs 32 / 39 82.1% 82.1% 269 / 324 83.0% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

233.3% acc · 0.96/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
1638.1% acc · 0.71/15 · norm 1.42
1275.0% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
7680.0% def · norm 63.1%
3:0910.1% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
26:397.9% of cage time · norm 19.75%
5:072:27 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
36:231:36 per 15 · norm 3:00
10.48/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.47

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.