This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
The UFC returned to Nashville this past Saturday for UFC Fight Night 108. In the main event, featherweights Cub Swanson and Artem Lobov put on a show with a 25-minute striking battle. 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.
Cub Swanson sets a record against Artem Lobov
Swanson and Lobov combined to land 332 significant strikes over the course of the five-round fight. The total is the second highest ever for a UFC fight behind only the Nate Diaz-Donald Cerrone fight at UFC 141. It is worth mentioning that the Diaz-Cerrone fight was only a 15-minute fight. In this bout, Swanson also broke the record for most significant strikes landed in a fight with 209. At 8.36 significant strikes per minute, Swanson more than doubled his career rate of 4.11. Lobov does seem to be a gifted offensive strike, but he absorbs more strikes than he landed and allows his opponents to land more than half of their significant strikes.
Al Iaquinta makes quick work of Diego Sanchez
Iaquinta picked up his quickest victory in the UFC by far against the depleted veteran. He needed less than two minutes to land 12 significant strikes and finish the fight. Iaquinta has never scored a first round finish in the UFC prior to this fight. Sanchez, who was always known for his durability, has now lost two of his last three fights via knockout. From 2009-2016, the TUF 1 winner went 10-straight fights without suffering a stoppage loss. During that span, he sustained 646 significant strikes without being finished.
Ovince Saint Preux goes to his submission game against Marcos Rogerio de Lima
For the fourth fight in a row, Saint Preux struggled in the distance -- that is on the feet and not in the clinch -- striking portion of the fight. Over his last four fights, he has been outlanded 184 to 137. Luckily for him, he was able to drag the fight to the floor and finish via submission. Oddly enough, Saint Preux only has two submission finishes in his UFC/Strikeforce career and both came via the Von Flue choke, or as he likes to call it, the "Von Preux" choke.
John Dodson stays one step ahead of Eddie Wineland
This might not have been the most crowd pleasing fight, but Dodson put on a rather impressive defensive display. He forced the former WEC champion to miss 85 percent of his significant strike attempts. Wineland only managed to land 21 significant strikes over the course of the 15-minute fight. Dodson landed 48 significant strikes at a 46 percent pace. The TUF winner finished with a 435 StrikeScore, which shows just how dominant he was. The stat measures striking efficiency relative to opponent. To put that in perspective, a StrikeScore of 100 implies an entirely even fight.
Stevie Ray overcomes early adversity to outstrike Joe Lauzon
For the second fight in a row, Ray knocked off a veteran with his more developed standup striking arsenal. Lauzon did not make it easy on him. In the first round, "J-Lau" landed three takedowns and 19 of his 46 total significant strikes for the fight. However, the next two rounds were almost entirely for Ray. "Braveheart" saved his best work for last, as he outlanded Lauzon 77 to 15 in the final round. Despite the strong striking performance, Ray will need to improve his defensive wrestling to become a well rounded fighter. Lauzon has always been a solid grappler, but even after he landed five of seven takedowns against Ray, he has still only landed 46 percent of his takedown attempts for his career. There are better wrestlers in the lightweight division, and at the moment, Ray would likely struggle against them.
Mike Perry flaunts power against Jake Ellenberger
After four fights in the UFC, it is clear that Perry is a powerful striker. Against Ellenberger, he picked up his third knockout victory and sixth knockdown in the UFC. He is averaging a knockdown for every 30.67 significant strikes landed. In this fight, he needed only a little over six minutes to register two knockdowns. That kind of power is always attractive to DFS player, since quicker finishes equal more points in the form of bonuses. However, "Platinum" did show weakness against a durable fighter with a more polished striking game when he faced off against Alan Jouban last December. He will needed to continue to develop the finer aspects of striking to best that type of fighter.
