Mike Massenzio vs. Steve Cantwell

UFC 2-5-0 vs. 1-5-0

Tale of the tape

Green = edge on that line
2-5-0
UFC record
1-5-0
Middleweight
Division (benchmark)
Light Heavyweight
43
AgeΔ 4 yrs
39
6'2"
HeightΔ 0"
6'2"
73"
ReachΔ 2"
75"
Southpaw
Stance
Orthodox
171.1
Layoff (months)Δ 2.3 mo
173.4
LLWLL
Last 5 (newest first)
LLLLL

The read

Stats 25%+ off the division median
Mike Massenzio is a submission threat — 1.37 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.47 Middleweight norm.
Steve Cantwell is a submission threat — 0.57 attempts per 15 minutes, vs a 0.27 Light Heavyweight norm.
Mike Massenzio hunts takedowns — 2.74 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.42 Middleweight norm.

Level of competition

Full-career record by tier of opposition

Mike Massenzio

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 35
Tier 3 — regional circuit 104

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.27 · 3 tier-1/2 wins · 8 finish wins over 22 documented bouts

In the UFC: 1-2 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +0.7 wins over .500

Steve Cantwell

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 15
Tier 3 — regional circuit 61

Tier-weighted record quality: 0.43 · 1 tier-1/2 wins · 7 finish wins over 13 documented bouts

In the UFC: 0-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record -0.5 wins over .500

Striking

Career totals · norms = own-division medians

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

1142.08/min · norm 3.25
Sig. strikes landed
2503.16/min · norm 3.41
1973.59/min · norm 3.20
Sig. strikes absorbed
4926.22/min · norm 3.35
45.1%norm 47.4%
Striking accuracy
31.7%norm 48.3%
54.4%norm 53.8%
Striking defense
53.6%norm 52.9%
10.27/15 · norm 0.32
Knockdowns
00.00/15 · norm 0.40

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

Mike Massenzio

Distance 90.1% (norm 79.4%) · Clinch 8.3% (norm 9.1%) · Ground 1.6% (norm 10.3%)

Steve Cantwell

Distance 93.0% (norm 80.5%) · Clinch 5.3% (norm 8.6%) · Ground 1.6% (norm 10.4%)

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

Mike Massenzio

Head 90.1% (norm 78.0%) · Body 6.7% (norm 13.4%) · Legs 3.2% (norm 8.4%)

Steve Cantwell

Head 75.2% (norm 79.2%) · Body 18.0% (norm 11.7%) · Legs 6.8% (norm 9.7%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

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

Zone Massenzio L/AAccMiddleweight med Cantwell L/AAccLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 100 / 228 43.9% 40.5% 210 / 734 28.6% 41.4%
In the clinch 11 / 21 too few to rate 70.3% 29 / 42 69.0% 70.9%
On the ground 3 / 4 too few to rate 69.1% 11 / 13 too few to rate 72.3%
BY TARGET
To the head 95 / 228 41.7% 38.9% 118 / 593 19.9% 38.9%
To the body 12 / 17 too few to rate 71.7% 92 / 142 64.8% 71.9%
To the legs 7 / 8 too few to rate 83.3% 40 / 54 74.1% 81.8%

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 (Middleweight: 174 fighters · Light 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 Massenzio L/AOpp accMiddleweight med vs Cantwell L/AOpp accLight Heavyweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 78 / 288 27.1% 39.5% 432 / 954 45.3% 40.4%
In the clinch 27 / 40 67.5% 70.9% 45 / 84 53.6% 68.7%
On the ground 92 / 104 88.5% 69.0% 15 / 23 too few to rate 70.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 89 / 296 30.1% 37.9% 332 / 864 38.4% 37.5%
To the body 91 / 109 83.5% 71.3% 84 / 108 77.8% 72.3%
To the legs 17 / 27 63.0% 82.1% 76 / 89 85.4% 83.0%

Grappling

Takedowns, control, submissions vs. division norm
1024.4% acc · 2.74/15 · norm 1.42
Takedowns landed
330.0% acc · 0.57/15 · norm 0.87
350.0% def · norm 63.1%
Takedowns stopped
2080.0% def · norm 66.7%
17:1131.3% of cage time · norm 19.75%
Control time
3:073.9% of cage time · norm 16.5%
14:003:49 per 15 · norm 3:00
Time under control
9:171:45 per 15 · norm 2:48
51.37/15 · norm 0.47
Submission attempts
30.57/15 · norm 0.27

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