UFC 137 Results: Clifford Starks' UFC Career Gets off to a Good Start

Clifford Starks entered the biggest fight of his career on Saturday in Las Vegas, and by the time his UFC debut was over he showed that he was ready for the next step.

Pitted against Dustin Jacoby—also making his UFC debut—Starks had a 7-0 MMA record. A former Division I wrestler at Arizona State University, Starks was a former teammate of UFC giant Cain Velasquez.

Jacoby didn't put up much of a fight on Saturday, but that's taking nothing away from Starks. Starks went for takedowns throughout the fight, exposing Jacoby's straight-up stance to score many of his takedown attempts.

While Jacoby didn't seem ready for the bright lights, Starks made sure he wasn't going to let the fight slip away from him after winning Round 2. He won via unanimous decision after constantly keeping Jacoby down on the mat throughout the three rounds.

Starks' last two fights have followed a similar theme. In his last fight, just under two weeks ago in the main event of Shark Fights 20, Starks' opponent didn't engage much, either. Starks has shown he's a rising fighter, but he's also gotten some help along the way.

Despite Jacoby being stymied for the most part on Saturday and not fighting back much, Starks has still won his UFC debut and it sets him up for his next date in the UFC. His wrestling skills will be his biggest strength moving forward, but he has to watch out for swinging hooks, which caught him a couple times on Saturday.

Overall, Starks can be happy with his debut, but he should also know he's likely going to receive more of a fight moving forward than his last two opponents.

Whether he's ready for an aggressive fighter will determine if Starks can continue rising or fall back.