Compare Aljamain Sterling vs Melquizael Costa — UFC matchup breakdown
Tale of the Tape
The biometric deltas where one side genuinely has an edge.
Activity & layoff
The recency dimension Tale of the Tape doesn't carry. How active each fighter has been, and how that compares to active peers in their division.
Division percentiles below rank both fighters against the Featherweight roster (348 fighters).
Recent form
Last five pro bouts (non-UFC fights dashed + tagged), current trajectory, and the level of opposition going into this matchup.
Schedule Score
Who they've faced × what they've done. Composite + components compared head-to-head, percentile-ranked against every UFC fighter w/ ≥3 resolved bouts.
Per-tier records + bout-by-bout
| Tier | Aljamain Sterling | Melquizael Costa |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | 4-1 | — |
| Top-5 | 5-4 | 0-1 |
| Top-15 | 4-0 | 2-1 |
| Cross-div champ | 1-0 | — |
| Cross-div ranked | 1-0 | 0-1 |
| Established | — | 2-0 |
| Building | 1-0 | 3-0 |
| Unproven | 2-0 | — |
- W vs Youssef Zalal#773Apr 25, 2026 · Top-15
- W vs Brian Ortega45Aug 23, 2025 · Cross-div ranked
- L vs Movsar Evloev#586Dec 7, 2024 · Top-5
- W vs Calvin Kattar#878Apr 13, 2024 · Top-5
- L vs Sean O'Malley#296Aug 19, 2023 · Champion
- W vs Henry CejudoCHAMP100May 6, 2023 · Champion
- W vs TJ Dillashaw#297Oct 22, 2022 · Champion
- W vs Petr Yan#197Apr 9, 2022 · Champion
- W vs Petr YanCHAMP100Mar 6, 2021 · Champion
- W vs Cory Sandhagen#485Jun 6, 2020 · Top-5
- W vs Pedro Munhoz#481Jun 8, 2019 · Top-5
- W vs Jimmie Rivera#582Feb 17, 2019 · Top-5
- W vs Cody Stamann#1069Sep 8, 2018 · Top-15
- W vs Brett Johns#1463Apr 21, 2018 · Top-15
- L vs Marlon Moraes#784Dec 9, 2017 · Top-5
- W vs Renan Barao67Jul 29, 2017 · Cross-div champ
- W vs Augusto Mendes8Apr 15, 2017 · Unproven
- L vs Raphael Assuncao#485Jan 28, 2017 · Top-5
- L vs Bryan Caraway#880May 29, 2016 · Top-5
- W vs Johnny Eduardo#1072Dec 10, 2015 · Top-15
- W vs Takeya Mizugaki#677Apr 18, 2015 · Top-5
- W vs Hugo Viana18Jul 16, 2014 · Building
- W vs Cody Gibson8Feb 22, 2014 · Unproven
- L vs Arnold Allen#778May 16, 2026 · Top-5
- W vs Dan Ige#1468Feb 21, 2026 · Top-15
- W vs Morgan Charriere18Dec 13, 2025 · Building
- W vs Julian Erosa35May 17, 2025 · Established
- W vs Christian Rodriguez30Mar 29, 2025 · Established
- W vs Andre Fili#1560Feb 22, 2025 · Top-15
- W vs Shayilan Nuerdanbieke18Jun 15, 2024 · Building
- L vs Steve Garcia36Dec 9, 2023 · Cross-div ranked
- W vs Austin Lingo18Jul 15, 2023 · Building
- L vs Thiago Moises#1561Jan 21, 2023 · Top-15
All figures are 0–100 ratings (shown as %), not percentages of anything literal. Schedule strength = the average quality of every UFC opponent faced (win or lose). Win quality = the average quality of the opponents actually beaten. The composite Schedule Score combines schedule strength (65%) with win quality (35%). Per-bout opponent quality is scored on rank-at-time-of-fight (champion 100, ranks 1–5 = 90→78, ranks 6–15 = 75→60), with cross-division and P4P signals layered on, falling back to opponent UFC record-at-time for unranked opponents. For fighters with limited UFC experience the headline is held toward a rookie baseline, so debut / low-sample fighters read lower than established names. UFC ranking data is sparse before December 2018, so legacy-era fighters score from record-at-time when ranks are missing.
Career splits
Striking matchup
Each fighter's offense mapped against the other's defense — where one attacks meets where the other gets hit, across head, body, and leg. Per 15 minutes of UFC fight time.
Evenly matched striking — no clear edge either way.
Where Sterling attacks (green = high volume) vs where Costa gets hit (red = vulnerable) — Sterling’s green zones meeting Costa’s red zones are the openings.
- Head50%54th703
- Body31%89th443
- Leg19%76th261
Color = division rank · green elite → red low · % = share of strikes
- Head68%48th233
- Body21%49th73
- Leg11%61st37
Color = division rank · green elite → red low · % = share absorbed · partly opponent-dependent
- Standing67%941
- Clinch15%209
- Ground18%257
- Standing69%237
- Clinch13%45
- Ground18%61
Each lane: the attacker’s strike rate (offense) vs the other’s rate absorbed (defense), graded on the division. The bar leans toward whoever wins the exchange — longer + greener = a bigger, higher-quality edge.
Full breakdown — all zones, both views
| Zone | Fighter | Landed / 15 | Accuracy | Absorbed / 15 | Career landed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head | Aljamain Sterling | around division average32.0 | 41% | top 10% of division18.5 | 703 |
| Head | Melquizael Costa | around division average31.0 | 34% | around division average33.5 | 216 |
| Body | Aljamain Sterling | top 11% of division19.0 | 71% | above division average9.0 | 443 |
| Body | Melquizael Costa | top 16% of division16.8 | 64% | around division average10.7 | 138 |
| Leg | Aljamain Sterling | top 24% of division11.5 | 77% | around division average7.6 | 261 |
| Leg | Melquizael Costa | top 18% of division13.2 | 82% | above division average6.2 | 108 |
Per-15-minute rates are sourced from UFCStats fight totals across each fighter’s UFC career. Division percentile is computed against every UFC fighter who has competed in this weight class with at least two recorded bouts. Lower “absorbed” values are better — the percentile is inverted so “top of division” always means better outcome.
Grappling matchup
Takedowns, submission threat, and control. Per 15 minutes of UFC fight time, with takedown defense as a percentage of opponent attempts stopped.
Each metric graded on the division — the bar leans toward whoever wins that part of the grappling exchange (longer + greener = a bigger edge).
Evenly matched grappling — no clear edge either way.
Full breakdown — career grappling totals
| Metric | Aljamain Sterling | Melquizael Costa |
|---|---|---|
| Takedowns landed / 15career takedowns | 2.556 | 1.511 |
| Takedown accuracycareer landed / attempted | 32%56 / 174 | 35%11 / 31 |
| Takedown defensecareer stopped / faced | 45%22 / 49 | 51%27 / 53 |
| Submission attempts / 15career attempts | 0.614 | 0.86 |
| Control time / 15 (min)career total | 5.0 min109:33 | 2.5 min18:02 |
| Time controlled by opponent / 15 (min)career total | 2.5 min56:06 | 4.8 min34:28 |
All rates computed from UFCStats fight totals across each fighter’s UFC career. Takedown defense = opponent attempts stopped ÷ opponent total attempts. Control time figures are minutes the fighter spent in a dominant position per 15 minutes of fight time. Accuracy under 8 career attempts is shown raw and ungraded — too small a sample to rate against the division.
Finishing & durability
How often each fighter ends fights early — and how often they get put away. Outcomes view, not per-minute output.
When their fights end
every pro finish on the fight clockFinish & durability rates
Full professional career
Full method breakdown
| Outcome | Aljamain Sterling | Melquizael Costa |
|---|---|---|
| Wins | ||
| by KO / TKO | 3(12%) | 9(35%) |
| by submission | 8(31%) | 8(31%) |
| by decision | 14(54%) | 9(35%) |
| other | 1(4%) | 0(0%) |
| Losses | ||
| by KO / TKO | 2(40%) | 2(25%) |
| by submission | 0(0%) | 2(25%) |
| by decision | 3(60%) | 4(50%) |
| other | 0(0%) | 0(0%) |
Full professional career method splits, graded against the full-pro division distribution. Career KO losses are the total — clean knockouts and cut/injury stoppages can’t be separated outside the UFC corpus. Finish-time pace is UFC-only.
KO history
UFC fights only — knockout power and chin durability, head-to-head, then when the last finish landed, and on whom.
- Last time KO'dvs Sean O'Malley2y 10mo agoUFC 292: Sterling vs. O'Malley · Aug 19, 2023 · R2 · 0:51
- Last time submittedNever submitted in the UFC
- Last time KO'dvs Steve Garcia2y 6mo agoUFC Fight Night: Song vs. Gutierrez · Dec 9, 2023 · R2 · 1:01
- Last time submittedvs Thiago Moises3y 5mo agoUFC 283: Teixeira vs. Hill · Jan 21, 2023 · R2 · 4:05
Pace & fade
How each fighter's work rate holds up as a fight wears on — round-by-round output (striking, takedown attempts, and control time combined), and whether they fade. The fade % compares round-3 output to round 1 over bouts that reached the third round.
Cardio edge to Costa: Costa builds (+10% per round through round 3) while Sterling holds steady (+2% per round through round 5). Within fights that reached round 3, Sterling lifts to 114% of round-1 output by round 3, Costa 125%.
Faded points are drawn from a single bout that reached that round, so they’re less reliable than the solid points averaged over many fights.
Rounds backed by fewer than 2 bouts are drawn smaller and dimmed with an n= count — a deep round seen in one or two fights is a thin sample, not a settled rate. Per-round bout counts are in the breakdown below.
Full per-round breakdown — both fighters
What drives the pace · per round
The composite output line above blends these three inputs. Splitting them out shows whether a fighter’s work rate is built on striking volume, takedown pressure, or top control — and which input fades.
| Round | Fighter | Output / min | Sig landed / min | Sig absorbed / min | TD att / min | Control | Bouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Aljamain Sterling | 6.3 | 3.6 | 1.6 | 0.46 | 33% | 23 |
| R1 | Melquizael Costa | 5.8 | 4.0 | 1.6 | 0.33 | 21% | 10 |
| R2 | Aljamain Sterling | 7.9 | 4.9 | 2.2 | 0.51 | 35% | 21 |
| R2 | Melquizael Costa | 5.7 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 0.20 | 14% | 7 |
| R3 | Aljamain Sterling | 7.3 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 0.53 | 32% | 17 |
| R3 | Melquizael Costa | 7.0 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 0.41 | 19% | 5 |
| R4 | Aljamain Sterling | 7.3 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 0.57 | 27% | 5 |
| R4 | Melquizael Costa | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 0.00 | 0% | 1 |
| R5 | Aljamain Sterling | 7.3 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 0.85 | 38% | 4 |
| R5 | Melquizael Costa | 2.8 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 0.20 | 0% | 1 |
Output / minis the headline work rate — significant strikes landed, plus 3 per takedown attempt, plus one per 15 seconds of control — so a takedown-and-grind round isn’t scored as idle the way bare striking volume would. The remaining columns are its components. Per-round rates use UFCStats per-round data (available for ~95% of bouts since 2008). Each round’s rates are averaged only over bouts that reached that round, so the bout count shrinks as rounds deepen. The final round of a finished fight is pro-rated by its actual length — a 2:30 stoppage counts as 2.5 minutes, not five — so an early finish doesn’t distort the per-minute pace.