This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
On Sunday, the UFC headed to Halifax for yet another Fight Night. In the main event, Derrick Lewis came back to stop Travis Browne in an epic two-round fight. The following is a by-the-numbers recap that highlights the stats and milestones that stood out on the main card, with stats courtesy of FightMetric.com.
Derrick Lewis shows off power -- this time against Travis Browne
This fight was a tale of two rounds. In the first round, Browne landed 18 significant strikes, all to the legs or body, while absorbing only four. In the second round, Lewis found his range and landed 35 significant strikes to finish the fight. Browne appeared to be the more skilled and diverse striker, but Lewis' power is a great equalizer. In his UFC career, he has landed a knockout for every 34.28 significant strikes landed, which is borderline ridiculous. He is currently riding a six-fight winning streak that includes five knockouts.
The momentum is moving in the opposite direction for Browne. He has now lost four of his last five bouts. His only victory over the stretch came after Matt Mitirione received a nasty eye poke. In those losses, Browne has been outstruck 224 to 79 in terms of significant strikes.
Johny Hendricks stays active from bell to bell Hector Lombard
After the fight, Hendricks said that he felt better at the higher weight. He did not appear to tire over the course of the 15-minute fight, and the numbers back this up. As every round passed, he attempted more and more significant strikes. In the first round, he attempted 23, but in the next two rounds he attempted 54 and 58 respectively. It will be interesting to see how he fares against larger middleweights, as Lombard has also fought in the UFC at welterweight.
Gavin Tucker appears to be a defensive phenomenon against Sam Sicilia
Tucker's debut went about as well as possible. His movement was too much for Sicilia to handle. The newcomer forced the veteran to miss 89 percent of his significant strike attempts and land only 11 percent. Sicilia landed only 10 significant strikes in a 15-minute fight. The Sikjitsu fighter is by no means an accurate striker, but his previous low for striking accuracy was 25 percent. On the offensive end, Tucker landed a respectable 3.67 significant strikes per minute with 46 percent of his strikes landed on his opponent's head.
Elias Theodorou outworks Cezar Ferreira
In the first round, it looked like "Mutante" was landing the harder and better shots. However, over the next two rounds, Theodorou simply outworked him. There are stories out there that Ferreira broke his hand early in the first round, which might explain why he landed only two significant strikes in the final 10 minutes of the fight. After landing at 47 percent in the first round, he managed to land only 11 and 10 percent in the next two rounds, respectively.
Theodorou's unorthodox style served him well here. Of the 38 significant strikes he landed, 20 were to the body or the legs due to his continual kick assault. In the grappling portion of the game, Ferreira was able to land three takedowns, but Theodorou was able to stay out of trouble and even scored two reversals.
Sara McMann picks up second-straight submission win over Gina Mazany
McMann seems to be coming into her own as a submission threat. Sure, she was facing a late replacement fighter with only four professional bouts, but she has now scored back-to-back finishes for the first time since 2011. In her previous bout she even submitted Alexis Davis who is a respected Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. As McMann's finishing ability to continues to improve, she becomes much more attractive to those participating in daily fantasy MMA contests. She will never be a volume striker, but a first round finish is still worth a lot of points in just about all formats.
Paul Felder's power wins out against Alessandro Ricci
Felder simply had too much power for Ricci. Ricci seemed happy to trade shots with him, so it was only a matter of time before he went down. Felder is a gifted offensive striker, but he leaves himself open for reprisals far too often. This issue comes across clearly in his striking stats. In three of his last four bouts, Felder has finished with a number of significant strikes landed that is within two of his opponent's total. He outlanded Ricci by two, Francisco Trinaldo by one, Josh Burkman by one and finished two strikes behind Ross Pearson. If Felder improves his defense, he will be able to really separate himself from his opponents.
