Cody Donovan vs.
Nick Penner
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.
Cody Donovan
| Competition tier | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin | 2 | 3 |
| Tier 3 — regional circuit | 6 | 2 |
Tier-weighted record quality: 0.41 · 2 tier-1/2 wins · 7 finish wins over 13 documented bouts
In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record -0.5 wins over .500
Nick Penner
Full career not yet synced for Nick Penner — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 0-0 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record -0.5 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)
Cody Donovan
Distance 64.9% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 29.2% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 5.8% (norm 10.4%)
Nick Penner
Distance 77.5% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 10.0% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 12.5% (norm 10.4%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Cody Donovan
Head 76.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 22.2% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 1.8% (norm 9.7%)
Nick Penner
Head 95.0% (norm 79.2%) · Body 5.0% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 0.0% (norm 9.7%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Donovan L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med | Penner L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 59 / 111 | 53.2% | 41.4% | 8 / 31 | 25.8% | 41.4% |
| In the clinch | 36 / 50 | 72.0% | 70.9% | 2 / 4 | too few to rate | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 6 / 10 | too few to rate | 72.3% | 2 / 5 | too few to rate | 72.3% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 64 / 130 | 49.2% | 38.9% | 10 / 38 | 26.3% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 34 / 38 | 89.5% | 71.9% | 2 / 2 | too few to rate | 71.9% |
| To the legs | 3 / 3 | too few to rate | 81.8% | 0 / 0 | too few to rate | 81.8% |
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 (Light Heavyweight: 93 fighters · Light Heavyweight: 93 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 Donovan L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med | vs Penner L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 54 / 116 | 46.6% | 40.4% | 8 / 20 | too few to rate | 40.4% |
| In the clinch | 23 / 36 | 63.9% | 68.7% | 10 / 12 | too few to rate | 68.7% |
| On the ground | 21 / 29 | 72.4% | 70.4% | 26 / 40 | 65.0% | 70.4% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 74 / 149 | 49.7% | 37.5% | 33 / 60 | 55.0% | 37.5% |
| To the body | 15 / 22 | too few to rate | 72.3% | 9 / 10 | too few to rate | 72.3% |
| To the legs | 9 / 10 | too few to rate | 83.0% | 2 / 2 | too few to rate | 83.0% |
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 — Donovan has more cage time on record.