Thiago Santos vs.
Gerald Meerschaert
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.
Thiago Santos
Full career not yet synced for Thiago Santos — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 11-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.6 wins over .500
Gerald Meerschaert
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 12 | 14 |
| Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) | 1 | 0 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 24 | 8 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.67 · 13 tier-1/2 wins · 35 finish wins over 59 documented bouts
In the UFC: 7-9 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.2 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)
Thiago Santos
Distance 69.7% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 9.8% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 20.5% (norm 10.3%)
Gerald Meerschaert
Distance 87.4% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 6.7% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 5.9% (norm 10.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Thiago Santos
Head 65.9% (norm 78.0%) · Body 16.8% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 17.3% (norm 8.4%)
Gerald Meerschaert
Head 85.8% (norm 78.0%) · Body 9.5% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 4.7% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Santos L/A | Acc | Middleweight med | Meerschaert L/A | Acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 512 / 1285 | 39.8% | 40.5% | 527 / 1265 | 41.7% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 150 / 181 | 82.9% | 70.3% | 67 / 97 | 69.1% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 226 / 378 | 59.8% | 69.1% | 58 / 85 | 68.2% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 455 / 1216 | 37.4% | 38.9% | 477 / 1241 | 38.4% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 204 / 309 | 66.0% | 71.7% | 112 / 138 | 81.2% | 71.7% |
| To the legs | 229 / 319 | 71.8% | 83.3% | 63 / 68 | 92.6% | 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 Santos L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med | vs Meerschaert L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 417 / 1085 | 38.4% | 39.5% | 525 / 1271 | 41.3% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 87 / 110 | 79.1% | 70.9% | 48 / 70 | 68.6% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 110 / 138 | 79.7% | 69.0% | 187 / 297 | 63.0% | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 330 / 914 | 36.1% | 37.9% | 531 / 1344 | 39.5% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 141 / 215 | 65.6% | 71.3% | 144 / 192 | 75.0% | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 143 / 204 | 70.1% | 82.1% | 85 / 102 | 83.3% | 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 — Meerschaert has more cage time on record.