Mike Pierce vs. Aaron Simpson

UFC 9-5-0 vs. 7-4-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
9-5-0
UFC record
7-4-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Middleweight
45
AgeΔ 7 yrs
52
5'8"
HeightΔ 4"
6'0"
71"
ReachΔ 2"
73"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
127.9
Layoff (months)Δ 38.2 mo
166.1
LLWWW
Last 5 (newest first)
LWLWW

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Aaron Simpson hunts takedowns — 3.79 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight norm.
Mike Pierce owns the mat — in control 47% of cage time, vs a 18% Welterweight norm.
Aaron Simpson carries real power — 0.71 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.32 Middleweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Mike Pierce

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 105
Tier 3 — regional circuit 72

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.15 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 9 finish wins over 24 documented bouts

In the UFC: 3-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +2.5 wins over .500

Aaron Simpson

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 74
Tier 3 — regional circuit 51

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.04 · 7 tier-1/2 wins · 7 finish wins over 17 documented bouts

In the UFC: 2-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.9 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4422.64/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
4543.58/min · norm 3.25
4102.45/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
3202.53/min · norm 3.20
42.4%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
52.8%norm 47.4%
62.2%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
56.2%norm 53.8%
30.27/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
60.71/15 · norm 0.32

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

Mike Pierce

Distance 66.6% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 19.3% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 14.1% (norm 8.1%)

Aaron Simpson

Distance 52.8% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 29.3% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 17.9% (norm 10.3%)

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

Mike Pierce

Head 80.4% (norm 78.2%) · Body 10.8% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 8.7% (norm 8.4%)

Aaron Simpson

Head 70.7% (norm 78.0%) · Body 16.5% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 12.8% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Pierce L/AAccWelterweight med Simpson L/AAccMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 212 / 695 30.5% 38.6% 164 / 454 36.1% 40.5%
In the clinch 126 / 201 62.7% 67.8% 184 / 252 73.0% 70.3%
On the ground 104 / 147 70.7% 67.2% 106 / 154 68.8% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 281 / 839 33.5% 37.2% 253 / 608 41.6% 38.9%
To the body 83 / 113 73.5% 70.7% 97 / 142 68.3% 71.7%
To the legs 78 / 91 85.7% 82.9% 104 / 110 94.5% 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 (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 Pierce L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Simpson L/AOpp accMiddleweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 264 / 859 30.7% 39.0% 150 / 473 31.7% 39.5%
In the clinch 136 / 216 63.0% 68.9% 145 / 229 63.3% 70.9%
On the ground 10 / 11 too few to rate 68.0% 25 / 28 89.3% 69.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 247 / 863 28.6% 35.6% 192 / 576 33.3% 37.9%
To the body 125 / 170 73.5% 69.6% 52 / 66 78.8% 71.3%
To the legs 38 / 53 71.7% 82.1% 76 / 88 86.4% 82.1%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
3141.3% acc · 2.77/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
3234.8% acc · 3.79/15 · norm 1.42
1869.2% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
2583.3% def · norm 63.1%
78:4247.0% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
53:2642.2% of cage time · norm 19.75%
12:111:05 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
16:151:55 per 15 · norm 3:00
30.27/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
40.47/15 · norm 0.47

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