Ben Saunders vs.
Patrick Cote
Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.
The men, measured.
Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.
What the numbers say.
Scouting notes, auto-generated — only stats deviating more than 25% from the division median make this list. No narratives, just deviations.
Who did they actually beat?
Full-career records re-graded by the tier of opposition — the same grading the Contender Series pick model uses. Records built on tier-4 competition are worth less than records built on killers.
Ben Saunders
Full career not yet synced for Ben Saunders — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 4-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.8 wins over .500
Patrick Cote
Full career not yet synced for Patrick Cote — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 4-7 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.9 wins over .500
The stand-up battle.
Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.
Significant strikes — landed & absorbed
Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)
Ben Saunders
Distance 71.9% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 23.0% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 5.1% (norm 8.1%)
Patrick Cote
Distance 73.1% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 15.2% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 11.6% (norm 10.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Ben Saunders
Head 66.2% (norm 78.2%) · Body 27.6% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 6.2% (norm 8.4%)
Patrick Cote
Head 70.5% (norm 78.0%) · Body 13.7% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 15.7% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Saunders L/A | Acc | Welterweight med | Cote L/A | Acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 285 / 696 | 40.9% | 38.6% | 405 / 1008 | 40.2% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 160 / 223 | 71.7% | 67.8% | 135 / 210 | 64.3% | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 41 / 49 | 83.7% | 67.2% | 122 / 160 | 76.2% | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 247 / 641 | 38.5% | 37.2% | 394 / 972 | 40.5% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 188 / 267 | 70.4% | 70.7% | 108 / 189 | 57.1% | 71.7% |
| To the legs | 51 / 60 | 85.0% | 82.9% | 160 / 217 | 73.7% | 83.3% |
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 (Welterweight: 182 fighters · Middleweight: 174 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 Saunders L/A | Opp acc | Welterweight med | vs Cote L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 288 / 715 | 40.3% | 39.0% | 429 / 991 | 43.3% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 108 / 178 | 60.7% | 68.9% | 163 / 241 | 67.6% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 142 / 208 | 68.3% | 68.0% | 178 / 260 | 68.5% | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 374 / 880 | 42.5% | 35.6% | 461 / 1102 | 41.8% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 64 / 103 | 62.1% | 69.6% | 167 / 219 | 76.3% | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 100 / 118 | 84.7% | 82.1% | 142 / 171 | 83.0% | 82.1% |
The ground war.
Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.
Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Cote has more cage time on record.