BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Yoel Romero vs.
Chris Weidman

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

9-4-0 Yoel Romero · UFC
12-8-0 Chris Weidman · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

9-4-0
UFC record
12-8-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
49
AgeΔ 7 yrs
42
6'0"
HeightΔ 2"
6'2"
73"
ReachΔ 5"
78"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
77
Layoff (months)Δ 57.1 mo
19.9
LLLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LWLLW
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.

Yoel Romero carries real power — 0.78 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.
Chris Weidman hunts takedowns — 3.27 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight norm.
Chris Weidman is a submission threat — 0.82 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.47 Middleweight norm.
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.

Yoel Romero

Full career not yet synced for Yoel Romero — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 8-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.0 wins over .500

Chris Weidman

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 128
Tier 3 — regional circuit 40

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.12 · 12 tier-1/2 wins · 10 finish wins over 24 documented bouts

In the UFC: 10-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.2 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

6673.49/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
6263.11/min · norm 3.25
5963.11/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
6793.37/min · norm 3.20
49.3%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
45.1%norm 47.4%
60.7%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
51.0%norm 53.8%
100.78/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
50.37/15 · norm 0.32

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

Yoel Romero

Distance 81.0% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 8.7% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 10.4% (norm 10.3%)

Chris Weidman

Distance 77.4% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 6.4% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 16.2% (norm 10.3%)

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

Yoel Romero

Head 72.8% (norm 78.0%) · Body 13.3% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 13.9% (norm 8.4%)

Chris Weidman

Head 82.3% (norm 78.0%) · Body 11.8% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 5.9% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Romero L/AAccMiddleweight med Weidman L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 487 / 1095 44.5% 40.5% 416 / 1073 38.8% 40.5%
In the clinch 80 / 117 68.4% 70.3% 58 / 89 65.2% 70.3%
On the ground 100 / 140 71.4% 69.1% 152 / 225 67.6% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 403 / 984 41.0% 38.9% 460 / 1141 40.3% 38.9%
To the body 119 / 180 66.1% 71.7% 100 / 164 61.0% 71.7%
To the legs 145 / 188 77.1% 83.3% 66 / 82 80.5% 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 Romero L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Weidman L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 537 / 1413 38.0% 39.5% 423 / 1032 41.0% 39.5%
In the clinch 37 / 67 55.2% 70.9% 101 / 148 68.2% 70.9%
On the ground 22 / 37 59.5% 69.0% 155 / 206 75.2% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 286 / 1037 27.6% 37.9% 452 / 1094 41.3% 37.9%
To the body 158 / 282 56.0% 71.3% 127 / 169 75.1% 71.3%
To the legs 152 / 198 76.8% 82.1% 100 / 123 81.3% 82.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

2133.3% acc · 1.65/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
4442.3% acc · 3.27/15 · norm 1.42
2980.6% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
2172.4% def · norm 63.1%
24:3012.8% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
64:5832.2% of cage time · norm 19.75%
10:090:47 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
14:431:05 per 15 · norm 3:00
00.00/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
110.82/15 · norm 0.47

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.