BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Zak Ottow vs.
Sage Northcutt

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

4-4-0 Zak Ottow · UFC
6-2-0 Sage Northcutt · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

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

4-4-0
UFC record
6-2-0
Welterweight
Division (benchmark)
Lightweight
39
AgeΔ 9 yrs
30
5'11"
HeightΔ 1"
6'0"
72"
ReachΔ 1"
71"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
88.9
Layoff (months)Δ 7.8 mo
96.7
LWLWL
Last 5 (newest first)
WWWLW
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.

Sage Northcutt carries real power — 0.40 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.25 Lightweight norm.
Sage Northcutt is hard to hit — absorbs 1.96 sig. strikes per minute, vs a 3.37 Lightweight norm.
Zak Ottow is wasteful with body shots — only 50% land, vs a 71% Welterweight norm.
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.

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

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

Striking

The stand-up battle.

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

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

2032.63/min · norm 3.17
Sig. strikes landed
2673.58/min · norm 3.42
2112.73/min · norm 3.06
Sig. strikes absorbed
1461.96/min · norm 3.37
36.8%norm 44.9%
Striking accuracy
52.4%norm 43.5%
58.6%norm 55.25%
Striking defense
59.0%norm 56.3%
20.39/15 · norm 0.38
Knockdowns
20.40/15 · norm 0.25

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

Zak Ottow

Distance 90.9% (norm 81.2%) · Clinch 2.0% (norm 9.4%) · Ground 7.1% (norm 8.1%)

Sage Northcutt

Distance 74.7% (norm 82.8%) · Clinch 12.4% (norm 7.6%) · Ground 12.9% (norm 8.0%)

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

Zak Ottow

Head 76.0% (norm 78.2%) · Body 14.5% (norm 12.4%) · Legs 9.4% (norm 8.4%)

Sage Northcutt

Head 76.5% (norm 78.2%) · Body 13.7% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 9.8% (norm 7.9%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Ottow L/AAccWelterweight med Northcutt L/AAccLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 174 / 501 34.7% 38.6% 162 / 381 42.5% 37.9%
In the clinch 7 / 11 too few to rate 67.8% 51 / 63 81.0% 67.3%
On the ground 22 / 39 56.4% 67.2% 54 / 66 81.8% 69.1%
BY TARGET
To the head 118 / 419 28.2% 37.2% 173 / 390 44.4% 35.0%
To the body 40 / 80 50.0% 70.7% 52 / 70 74.3% 69.1%
To the legs 45 / 52 86.5% 82.9% 42 / 50 84.0% 81.9%

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 (Welterweight: 182 fighters · Lightweight: 201 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 Ottow L/AOpp accWelterweight med vs Northcutt L/AOpp accLightweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 144 / 415 34.7% 39.0% 107 / 296 36.1% 38.9%
In the clinch 24 / 28 85.7% 68.9% 6 / 12 too few to rate 68.6%
On the ground 43 / 67 64.2% 68.0% 33 / 48 68.8% 68.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 123 / 384 32.0% 35.6% 87 / 262 33.2% 35.1%
To the body 33 / 57 57.9% 69.6% 15 / 31 48.4% 68.1%
To the legs 55 / 69 79.7% 82.1% 44 / 63 69.8% 81.5%
Grappling

The ground war.

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

529.4% acc · 0.97/15 · norm 1.27
Takedowns landed
934.6% acc · 1.81/15 · norm 1.38
857.1% def · norm 63.9%
Takedowns stopped
1041.7% def · norm 64.0%
11:0214.3% of cage time · norm 18.5%
Control time
12:5717.4% of cage time · norm 19.5%
14:572:54 per 15 · norm 3:15
Time under control
28:595:49 per 15 · norm 2:46
20.39/15 · norm 0.45
Submission attempts
30.60/15 · norm 0.49

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

Next move

Let the engine settle it.