Paulo Costa vs. Robert Whittaker
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
Paulo Costa
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 8 | 4 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 8 | 0 |
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
Robert Whittaker
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 18 | 7 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 9 | 2 |
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
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
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%)
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)
Paulo Costa
Head 61.3% (norm 78.0%) · Body 29.2% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 9.5% (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 | Costa L/A | Acc | Middleweight med | Whittaker L/A | Acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 826 / 1430 | 57.8% | 40.5% | 1288 / 3106 | 41.5% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 49 / 62 | 79.0% | 70.3% | 100 / 167 | 59.9% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 59 / 84 | 70.2% | 69.1% | 101 / 159 | 63.5% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 422 / 966 | 43.7% | 38.9% | 1069 / 2869 | 37.3% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 379 / 460 | 82.4% | 71.7% | 153 / 250 | 61.2% | 71.7% |
| To the legs | 133 / 150 | 88.7% | 83.3% | 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 (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/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med | vs Whittaker L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 836 / 1695 | 49.3% | 39.5% | 965 / 2563 | 37.7% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 58 / 80 | 72.5% | 70.9% | 120 / 172 | 69.8% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 10 / 12 | too few to rate | 69.0% | 63 / 77 | 81.8% | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 588 / 1359 | 43.3% | 37.9% | 645 / 2110 | 30.6% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 195 / 293 | 66.6% | 71.3% | 234 / 378 | 61.9% | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 121 / 135 | 89.6% | 82.1% | 269 / 324 | 83.0% | 82.1% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Whittaker has more cage time on record.