UFC 137 Results: Clifford Starks Unimpressive in Debut Win over Dustin Jacoby

In what was his first career fight in UFC, Clifford Starks easily handled 23-year-old Dustin Jacoby en route to an unanimous decision victory. Starks was able to keep Jacoby grounded for the majority of the fight as the youngster got little offense in.

Starks was able to use his amateur wrestling background to his advantage, as he formerly wrestled at Arizona State University. Starks attempted one take down in each round, and he was successful in grinding Jacoby into the mat each time.

While Starks was dominant, it is difficult to imagine him going too far in the middleweight division. Starks appeared to be much bigger and stronger than Jacoby, so his strategy of bogging him down and putting his weight on Jacoby was effective.

Once he begins to fight stronger and more savvy fighters, however, I doubt that such a strategy would work. Starks left his right arm vulnerable throughout the fight, but Jacoby was unable to take advantage due to his inexperience.

At one point Jacoby grabbed Starks' arm, but he was unable to secure the wrist, and thus couldn't get anything going. I think Starks was simply the better of two mediocre fighters and doubt that he'll be able to hang in there against the division's top guys.

Starks displayed little other than an ability to take down his opponent, so it remains to be seen whether he has any type of punching power or any submission maneuvers that could prove handy in the future. He won't simply be able to lay on his opposition in the future and get away with it.

It is very obvious that Jacoby doesn't have a great deal of promise, but I don't think Starks does either. He seems very one-dimensional, and that surely won't bode well for him moving forward.