Sage Northcutt vs.
Zak Ottow
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.
Sage Northcutt
Full career not yet synced for Sage Northcutt — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 1-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record -0.1 wins over .500
Zak Ottow
Full career not yet synced for Zak Ottow — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 2-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.6 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)
Sage Northcutt
Distance 74.7% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 12.4% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 12.9% (norm 8.0%)
Zak Ottow
Distance 90.9% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 2.0% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 7.1% (norm 8.1%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Sage Northcutt
Head 76.5% (norm 78.2%) · Body 13.7% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 9.8% (norm 7.9%)
Zak Ottow
Head 76.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 14.5% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 9.4% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Northcutt L/A | Acc | Lightweight med | Ottow L/A | Acc | Welterweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 162 / 381 | 42.5% | 37.9% | 174 / 501 | 34.7% | 38.6% |
| In the clinch | 51 / 63 | 81.0% | 67.3% | 7 / 11 | too few to rate | 67.8% |
| On the ground | 54 / 66 | 81.8% | 69.1% | 22 / 39 | 56.4% | 67.2% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 173 / 390 | 44.4% | 35.0% | 118 / 419 | 28.2% | 37.2% |
| To the body | 52 / 70 | 74.3% | 69.1% | 40 / 80 | 50.0% | 70.7% |
| To the legs | 42 / 50 | 84.0% | 81.9% | 45 / 52 | 86.5% | 82.9% |
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 (Lightweight: 201 fighters · Welterweight: 182 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 Northcutt L/A | Opp acc | Lightweight med | vs Ottow L/A | Opp acc | Welterweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 107 / 296 | 36.1% | 38.9% | 144 / 415 | 34.7% | 39.0% |
| In the clinch | 6 / 12 | too few to rate | 68.6% | 24 / 28 | 85.7% | 68.9% |
| On the ground | 33 / 48 | 68.8% | 68.0% | 43 / 67 | 64.2% | 68.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 87 / 262 | 33.2% | 35.1% | 123 / 384 | 32.0% | 35.6% |
| To the body | 15 / 31 | 48.4% | 68.1% | 33 / 57 | 57.9% | 69.6% |
| To the legs | 44 / 63 | 69.8% | 81.5% | 55 / 69 | 79.7% | 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 — Northcutt has more cage time on record.