BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Calvin Kattar vs.
Aljamain Sterling

Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.

7-8-0 Calvin Kattar · UFC
18-5-0 Aljamain Sterling · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.

7-8-0
UFC record
18-5-0
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Bantamweight
38
AgeΔ 1 yrs
37
5'11"
HeightΔ 4"
5'7"
72"
ReachΔ 1"
71"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
12.8
Layoff (months)Δ 9.4 mo
3.4
LLLLL
Last 5 (newest first)
WWLWL
The read

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.

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.
Calvin Kattar absorbs 6.55 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.47 Featherweight norm — hittable.
Level of competition

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.

Calvin Kattar

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 168
Tier 3 — regional circuit 72

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.25 · 16 tier-1/2 wins · 13 finish wins over 33 documented bouts

In the UFC: 5-8 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.7 wins over .500

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

Striking

The stand-up battle.

Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

9774.41/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
14074.26/min · norm 3.52
14536.55/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
7102.15/min · norm 3.58
38.0%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
52.6%norm 43.4%
54.8%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
59.2%norm 56.6%
50.34/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.30

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

Calvin Kattar

Distance 95.5% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 1.2% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 3.4% (norm 6.5%)

Aljamain Sterling

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

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

Calvin Kattar

Head 87.8% (norm 77.4%) · Body 8.1% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 4.0% (norm 7.8%)

Aljamain Sterling

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

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Kattar L/AAccFeatherweight med Sterling L/AAccBantamweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 908 / 2456 37.0% 40.9% 941 / 2066 45.5% 39.0%
In the clinch 16 / 30 53.3% 70.8% 209 / 270 77.4% 68.7%
On the ground 53 / 87 60.9% 69.2% 257 / 339 75.8% 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 760 / 2260 33.6% 37.2% 703 / 1712 41.1% 34.9%
To the body 131 / 209 62.7% 68.2% 443 / 622 71.2% 66.8%
To the legs 86 / 104 82.7% 80.7% 261 / 341 76.5% 79.4%

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 (Featherweight: 126 fighters · Bantamweight: 117 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 Kattar L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Sterling L/AOpp accBantamweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1416 / 3148 45.0% 39.2% 567 / 1534 37.0% 39.3%
In the clinch 24 / 39 61.5% 70.3% 92 / 134 68.7% 70.4%
On the ground 13 / 27 48.1% 69.4% 51 / 71 71.8% 72.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 859 / 2446 35.1% 35.9% 355 / 1230 28.9% 34.9%
To the body 325 / 450 72.2% 67.9% 190 / 302 62.9% 66.0%
To the legs 269 / 318 84.6% 81.5% 165 / 207 79.7% 79.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.

529.4% acc · 0.34/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
5632.2% acc · 2.54/15 · norm 1.12
3477.3% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
2244.9% def · norm 66.7%
6:222.9% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
109:3333.1% of cage time · norm 17.4%
13:230:54 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
56:062:32 per 15 · norm 2:24
10.07/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
140.64/15 · norm 0.28

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.