BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Frankie Edgar vs.
Brian Ortega

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

18-11-1 Frankie Edgar · UFC
8-5-0 (1 NC) Brian Ortega · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

18-11-1
UFC record
8-5-0 (1 NC)
Featherweight
Division (benchmark)
Featherweight
44
AgeΔ 9 yrs
35
5'6"
HeightΔ 2"
5'8"
68"
ReachΔ 1"
69"
Orthodox
Stance
Switch
44.8
Layoff (months)Δ 33.4 mo
11.4
LLLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLWLL
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.

Brian Ortega is a submission threat — 0.93 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.46 Featherweight norm.
Frankie Edgar hunts takedowns — 2.29 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.19 Featherweight norm.
Brian Ortega absorbs 6.38 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.

Frankie Edgar

Full career not yet synced for Frankie Edgar — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).

In the UFC: 17-11 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

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

18013.77/min · norm 3.54
Sig. strikes landed
7423.84/min · norm 3.54
13462.82/min · norm 3.47
Sig. strikes absorbed
12336.38/min · norm 3.47
40.5%norm 45.0%
Striking accuracy
37.3%norm 45.0%
65.9%norm 54.85%
Striking defense
49.3%norm 54.85%
30.09/15 · norm 0.29
Knockdowns
50.39/15 · norm 0.29

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

Frankie Edgar

Distance 82.5% (norm 85.7%) · Clinch 4.7% (norm 6.1%) · Ground 12.9% (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)

Frankie Edgar

Head 79.6% (norm 77.4%) · Body 12.7% (norm 12.9%) · Legs 7.6% (norm 7.8%)

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 Edgar L/AAccFeatherweight med Ortega L/AAccFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1263 / 3672 34.4% 40.9% 657 / 1868 35.2% 40.9%
In the clinch 129 / 207 62.3% 70.8% 49 / 65 75.4% 70.8%
On the ground 409 / 572 71.5% 69.2% 36 / 54 66.7% 69.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 1195 / 3545 33.7% 37.2% 528 / 1704 31.0% 37.2%
To the body 344 / 566 60.8% 68.2% 136 / 187 72.7% 68.2%
To the legs 262 / 340 77.1% 80.7% 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 (Featherweight: 126 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 Edgar L/AOpp accFeatherweight med vs Ortega L/AOpp accFeatherweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 1159 / 3660 31.7% 39.2% 1063 / 2176 48.9% 39.2%
In the clinch 93 / 156 59.6% 70.3% 44 / 57 77.2% 70.3%
On the ground 94 / 135 69.6% 69.4% 126 / 198 63.6% 69.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 995 / 3447 28.9% 35.9% 875 / 1998 43.8% 35.9%
To the body 204 / 317 64.4% 67.9% 185 / 242 76.4% 67.9%
To the legs 147 / 187 78.6% 81.5% 173 / 191 90.6% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

7331.5% acc · 2.29/15 · norm 1.19
Takedowns landed
1225.0% acc · 0.93/15 · norm 1.19
4265.6% def · norm 61.5%
Takedowns stopped
1854.5% def · norm 61.5%
105:3722.1% of cage time · norm 16.7%
Control time
16:388.6% of cage time · norm 16.7%
16:260:30 per 15 · norm 3:12
Time under control
22:061:42 per 15 · norm 3:12
100.31/15 · norm 0.46
Submission attempts
120.93/15 · norm 0.46

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.