Robert Whittaker vs. Colton Smith
Tale of the tape
The read
Level of competition
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
Colton Smith
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 1 | 3 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 6 | 2 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.18 · 1 tier-1/2 wins · 3 finish wins over 12 documented bouts
In the UFC: 0-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.5 wins over .500
Striking
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Robert Whittaker
Distance 90.5% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 4.9% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 4.6% (norm 10.3%)
Colton Smith
Distance 76.9% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 16.9% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 6.2% (norm 8.0%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Robert Whittaker
Head 83.6% (norm 78.0%) · Body 7.3% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 9.1% (norm 8.4%)
Colton Smith
Head 64.6% (norm 78.2%) · Body 13.8% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 21.5% (norm 7.9%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Whittaker L/A | Acc | Middleweight med | Smith L/A | Acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 1288 / 3106 | 41.5% | 40.5% | 30 / 100 | 30.0% | 37.9% |
| In the clinch | 100 / 167 | 59.9% | 70.3% | 17 / 22 | too few to rate | 67.3% |
| On the ground | 101 / 159 | 63.5% | 69.1% | 7 / 8 | too few to rate | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 1069 / 2869 | 37.3% | 38.9% | 21 / 84 | 25.0% | 35.0% |
| To the body | 153 / 250 | 61.2% | 71.7% | 11 / 18 | too few to rate | 69.1% |
| To the legs | 267 / 313 | 85.3% | 83.3% | 22 / 28 | 78.6% | 81.9% |
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 · Lightweight: 201 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 Whittaker L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med | vs Smith L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 965 / 2563 | 37.7% | 39.5% | 54 / 120 | 45.0% | 38.9% |
| In the clinch | 120 / 172 | 69.8% | 70.9% | 14 / 26 | 53.8% | 68.6% |
| On the ground | 63 / 77 | 81.8% | 69.0% | 8 / 11 | too few to rate | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 645 / 2110 | 30.6% | 37.9% | 68 / 146 | 46.6% | 35.1% |
| To the body | 234 / 378 | 61.9% | 71.3% | 6 / 8 | too few to rate | 68.1% |
| To the legs | 269 / 324 | 83.0% | 82.1% | 2 / 3 | too few to rate | 81.5% |
Grappling
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Whittaker has more cage time on record.