Aljamain Sterling vs. Brian Ortega

UFC 18-5-0 vs. 8-5-0 (1 NC)

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
18-5-0
UFC record
8-5-0 (1 NC)
Bantamweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
37
AgeΔ 2 yrs
35
5'7"
HeightΔ 1"
5'8"
71"
ReachΔ 2"
69"
Orthodox
Stance
Switch
3.4
Layoff (months)Δ 8.1 mo
11.5
WWLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWLL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Aljamain Sterling is a submission threat — 0.64 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.28 Bantamweight norm.
Aljamain Sterling hunts takedowns — 2.54 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.12 Bantamweight norm.
Brian Ortega is a submission threat — 0.93 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.46 Featherweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Aljamain Sterling

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 185
Tier 3 — regional circuit 80

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.61 · 18 tier-1/2 wins · 11 finish wins over 31 documented bouts

In the UFC: 16-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.3 wins over .500

Brian Ortega

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 85
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 20
Tier 3 — regional circuit 60

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.34 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 11 finish wins over 22 documented bouts

In the UFC: 8-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +5.8 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

14074.26/min · norm 3.52
Sig. strikes landed
7423.84/min · norm 3.54
7102.15/min · norm 3.58
Sig. strikes absorbed
12336.38/min · norm 3.47
52.6%norm 43.4%
Striking accuracy
37.3%norm 45.0%
59.2%norm 56.6%
Striking defense
49.3%norm 54.85%
00.00/15 · norm 0.30
Knockdowns
50.39/15 · norm 0.29

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

Aljamain Sterling

Distance 77.2% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 10.1% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 12.7% (norm 6.5%)

Brian Ortega

Distance 94.0% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 3.3% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 2.7% (norm 6.5%)

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

Aljamain Sterling

Head 64.0% (norm 77.4%) · Body 23.3% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 12.7% (norm 8.4%)

Brian Ortega

Head 85.8% (norm 77.4%) · Body 9.4% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 4.8% (norm 7.8%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Sterling L/AAccBantamweight med Ortega L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 941 / 2066 45.5% 39.0% 657 / 1868 35.2% 40.9%
In the clinch 209 / 270 77.4% 68.7% 49 / 65 75.4% 70.8%
On the ground 257 / 339 75.8% 70.2% 36 / 54 66.7% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 703 / 1712 41.1% 34.9% 528 / 1704 31.0% 37.2%
To the body 443 / 622 71.2% 66.8% 136 / 187 72.7% 68.2%
To the legs 261 / 341 76.5% 79.4% 78 / 96 81.2% 80.7%

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 (Bantamweight: 117 fighters · Featherweight: 126 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 Sterling L/AOpp accBantamweight med vs Ortega L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 567 / 1534 37.0% 39.3% 1063 / 2176 48.9% 39.2%
In the clinch 92 / 134 68.7% 70.4% 44 / 57 77.2% 70.3%
On the ground 51 / 71 71.8% 72.4% 126 / 198 63.6% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 355 / 1230 28.9% 34.9% 875 / 1998 43.8% 35.9%
To the body 190 / 302 62.9% 66.0% 185 / 242 76.4% 67.9%
To the legs 165 / 207 79.7% 79.1% 173 / 191 90.6% 81.5%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
5632.2% acc · 2.54/15 · norm 1.12
Takedowns landed
1225.0% acc · 0.93/15 · norm 1.19
2244.9% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
1854.5% def · norm 61.5%
109:3333.1% of cage time · norm 17.4%
Control time
16:388.6% of cage time · norm 16.7%
56:062:32 per 15 · norm 2:24
Time under control
22:061:42 per 15 · norm 3:12
140.64/15 · norm 0.28
Submission attempts
120.93/15 · norm 0.46

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