Paulo Costa vs. Garreth McLellan

UFC 8-4-0 vs. 1-4-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
8-4-0
UFC record
1-4-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
35
AgeΔ 8 yrs
43
6'1"
HeightΔ 0"
6'1"
72"
ReachΔ 0"
72"
Orthodox
Stance
Southpaw
3.9
Layoff (months)Δ 109 mo
112.9
WWLLW
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLWL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Paulo Costa outworks the Middleweight division — 6.15 sig. strikes landed per minute, vs a 3.25 norm.
Paulo Costa absorbs 5.96 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.20 Middleweight norm — hittable.
Garreth McLellan is a submission threat — 0.86 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.47 Middleweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Paulo Costa

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 84
Tier 3 — regional circuit 80

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.48 · 8 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 20 documented bouts

In the UFC: 5-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.3 wins over .500

Garreth McLellan

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 14
Tier 3 — regional circuit 123

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.46 · 1 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 20 documented bouts

In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.2 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

9346.15/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
1853.56/min · norm 3.25
9045.96/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
1532.94/min · norm 3.20
59.3%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
54.4%norm 47.4%
49.4%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
45.2%norm 53.8%
60.59/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.32

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

Paulo Costa

Distance 90.7% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 3.9% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 5.3% (norm 10.3%)

Garreth McLellan

Distance 52.9% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 12.1% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 35.0% (norm 10.3%)

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

Paulo Costa

Head 61.3% (norm 78.0%) · Body 29.2% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 9.5% (norm 8.4%)

Garreth McLellan

Head 72.9% (norm 78.0%) · Body 17.6% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 9.4% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Costa L/AAccMiddleweight med McLellan L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 826 / 1430 57.8% 40.5% 58 / 180 32.2% 40.5%
In the clinch 49 / 62 79.0% 70.3% 33 / 41 80.5% 70.3%
On the ground 59 / 84 70.2% 69.1% 94 / 119 79.0% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 422 / 966 43.7% 38.9% 120 / 248 48.4% 38.9%
To the body 379 / 460 82.4% 71.7% 40 / 60 66.7% 71.7%
To the legs 133 / 150 88.7% 83.3% 25 / 32 78.1% 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 Costa L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs McLellan L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 836 / 1695 49.3% 39.5% 75 / 166 45.2% 39.5%
In the clinch 58 / 80 72.5% 70.9% 59 / 78 75.6% 70.9%
On the ground 10 / 12 too few to rate 69.0% 19 / 35 54.3% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 588 / 1359 43.3% 37.9% 100 / 217 46.1% 37.9%
To the body 195 / 293 66.6% 71.3% 38 / 46 82.6% 71.3%
To the legs 121 / 135 89.6% 82.1% 15 / 16 too few to rate 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
342.9% acc · 0.30/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
422.2% acc · 1.15/15 · norm 1.42
2177.8% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
834.8% def · norm 63.1%
8:245.5% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
14:1427.4% of cage time · norm 19.75%
6:210:37 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
20:075:47 per 15 · norm 3:00
00.00/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
30.86/15 · norm 0.47

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