Steve Cantwell vs.
Mike Massenzio
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.
Steve Cantwell
Full career not yet synced for Steve Cantwell — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record -0.5 wins over .500
Mike Massenzio
Full career not yet synced for Mike Massenzio — tier grading appears once their record documentation lands (refreshes weekly).
In the UFC: 1-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.7 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)
Steve Cantwell
Distance 93.0% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 5.3% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 1.6% (norm 10.4%)
Mike Massenzio
Distance 90.1% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 8.3% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 1.6% (norm 10.3%)
What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)
Steve Cantwell
Head 75.2% (norm 79.2%) · Body 18.0% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 6.8% (norm 9.7%)
Mike Massenzio
Head 90.1% (norm 78.0%) · Body 6.7% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 3.2% (norm 8.4%)
Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone
Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.
| Zone | Cantwell L/A | Acc | Light Heavyweight med | Massenzio L/A | Acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 210 / 734 | 28.6% | 41.4% | 100 / 228 | 43.9% | 40.5% |
| In the clinch | 29 / 42 | 69.0% | 70.9% | 11 / 21 | too few to rate | 70.3% |
| On the ground | 11 / 13 | too few to rate | 72.3% | 3 / 4 | too few to rate | 69.1% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 118 / 593 | 19.9% | 38.9% | 95 / 228 | 41.7% | 38.9% |
| To the body | 92 / 142 | 64.8% | 71.9% | 12 / 17 | too few to rate | 71.7% |
| To the legs | 40 / 54 | 74.1% | 81.8% | 7 / 8 | too few to rate | 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 (Light Heavyweight: 93 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 Cantwell L/A | Opp acc | Light Heavyweight med | vs Massenzio L/A | Opp acc | Middleweight med |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BY POSITION | ||||||
| At distance | 432 / 954 | 45.3% | 40.4% | 78 / 288 | 27.1% | 39.5% |
| In the clinch | 45 / 84 | 53.6% | 68.7% | 27 / 40 | 67.5% | 70.9% |
| On the ground | 15 / 23 | too few to rate | 70.4% | 92 / 104 | 88.5% | 69.0% |
| BY TARGET | ||||||
| To the head | 332 / 864 | 38.4% | 37.5% | 89 / 296 | 30.1% | 37.9% |
| To the body | 84 / 108 | 77.8% | 72.3% | 91 / 109 | 83.5% | 71.3% |
| To the legs | 76 / 89 | 85.4% | 83.0% | 17 / 27 | 63.0% | 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 — Massenzio has more cage time on record.