Blagoy Ivanov vs. Augusto Sakai

UFC 3-5-0 vs. 5-4-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
3-5-0
UFC record
5-4-0
Heavyweight
Division (benchmark)
Heavyweight
39
AgeΔ 4 yrs
35
5'11"
HeightΔ 4"
6'3"
73"
ReachΔ 4"
77"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
37.3
Layoff (months)Δ 4.1 mo
41.4
LLWLL
Last 5 (newest first)
WLLLL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Augusto Sakai rarely shoots — 0.30 takedowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.95 Heavyweight norm.
Augusto Sakai's takedown defense leaks — 38% stopped, vs a 64% Heavyweight norm.
Blagoy Ivanov absorbs 4.20 sig. strikes per minute, well above the 3.19 Heavyweight norm — hittable.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Blagoy Ivanov

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 107
Tier 3 — regional circuit 90

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.2 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 12 finish wins over 27 documented bouts

In the UFC: 3-5 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.0 wins over .500

Augusto Sakai

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 105
Tier 3 — regional circuit 73

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.0 · 10 tier-1/2 wins · 11 finish wins over 26 documented bouts

In the UFC: 1-4 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +1.7 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

4223.25/min · norm 3.36
Sig. strikes landed
4304.32/min · norm 3.36
5464.20/min · norm 3.19
Sig. strikes absorbed
4304.32/min · norm 3.19
40.5%norm 47.8%
Striking accuracy
49.3%norm 47.8%
53.5%norm 52.5%
Striking defense
45.6%norm 52.5%
10.12/15 · norm 0.28
Knockdowns
10.15/15 · norm 0.28

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

Blagoy Ivanov

Distance 94.2% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 4.9% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 0.9% (norm 9.3%)

Augusto Sakai

Distance 75.8% (norm 79.5%) · Clinch 21.4% (norm 9.8%) · Ground 2.8% (norm 9.3%)

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

Blagoy Ivanov

Head 89.5% (norm 79.2%) · Body 9.7% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 0.8% (norm 7.6%)

Augusto Sakai

Head 72.6% (norm 79.2%) · Body 19.3% (norm 11.5%) · Legs 8.1% (norm 7.6%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Ivanov L/AAccHeavyweight med Sakai L/AAccHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 377 / 982 38.4% 40.1% 260 / 661 39.3% 40.1%
In the clinch 37 / 51 72.5% 70.6% 150 / 187 80.2% 70.6%
On the ground 8 / 9 too few to rate 70.2% 20 / 24 too few to rate 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 329 / 933 35.3% 38.9% 255 / 633 40.3% 38.9%
To the body 85 / 101 84.2% 76.8% 121 / 168 72.0% 76.8%
To the legs 8 / 8 too few to rate 87.8% 54 / 71 76.1% 87.8%

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 (Heavyweight: 93 fighters · 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 Ivanov L/AOpp accHeavyweight med vs Sakai L/AOpp accHeavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 471 / 1061 44.4% 40.7% 285 / 610 46.7% 40.7%
In the clinch 65 / 97 67.0% 70.6% 70 / 86 81.4% 70.6%
On the ground 10 / 16 too few to rate 72.0% 75 / 95 78.9% 72.0%
BY TARGET
To the head 318 / 876 36.3% 38.8% 249 / 581 42.9% 38.8%
To the body 137 / 196 69.9% 75.1% 125 / 144 86.8% 75.1%
To the legs 91 / 102 89.2% 84.4% 56 / 66 84.8% 84.4%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
640.0% acc · 0.69/15 · norm 0.95
Takedowns landed
240.0% acc · 0.30/15 · norm 0.95
861.5% def · norm 64.3%
Takedowns stopped
637.5% def · norm 64.3%
11:028.5% of cage time · norm 17.2%
Control time
17:0917.2% of cage time · norm 17.2%
16:231:53 per 15 · norm 2:28
Time under control
19:372:57 per 15 · norm 2:28
10.12/15 · norm 0.16
Submission attempts
00.00/15 · norm 0.16

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