This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
After multiple permutations of the main event, Khabib Nurmagomedov finally faced off against Al Iaquinta for the lightweight title at UFC 223. In the end, he took the title in a one-sided fight, but it might not have been as dominant as some expected. In the co-main event, Rose Namajunas knocked off former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the second time to stake her claim to be the best strawweight fighter on the planet. 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.
Khabib Nurmagomedov grinds out a victory over late replacement Al Iaquinta
The first two rounds of this title fight seemed totally in line with Nurmagomedov's career history. He scored five of his seven attempted takedowns and landed 29 ground strikes. However, over the last three rounds of the fight, he was unable to control the fight with his wrestling. He attempted six takedowns in the final three rounds, but he only landed one. The Russian fighter did surprisingly well on the feet. In terms of distance strikes, he outlanded Iaquinta 100 to 41. Coming into this fight, he had landed only 164 standing significant strikes in his entire UFC career combined. Despite the statistical domination, many onlookers were not impressed with his striking. As a champion, he will consistently face high level opposition and get the chance to prove doubters wrong.
Nurmagomedov finished with the highest DraftKings score of the night. He earned players 148 points based on 134 significant strikes, seven passes and six takedowns. Nurmagomedov is almost always a good bet in DFS since he lands takedowns at an above average rate. In this fight, he showed he can put up points without scoring a finish.
Rose Namajunas proves it was not a fluke against Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Namajunas successfully defended her title with a decision victory over Jedrzejczyk. Immediately after the fight people started using the striking stats to make the case for Jedrzejczyk taking the decision. She did outland Namajunas 145 to 105 on significant strikes. However, the numbers do not always tell the whole story. In the first, second and fifth rounds, Namajunas scored the harder strikes that proved to be the difference in the fight. In terms of head strikes Namajunas dominated the fight. She outlanded the former champion 85 to 64. Namajunas's 105 significant strikes was the most ever landed against Jedrzejczyk in the UFC.
Based mostly on 105 significant strikes, Namajunas finished with 87.5 DraftKings points. The score was only the ninth highest score of the night. It is a respectable score, but for a 25-minute fight, players were probably expecting more.
Renato Moicano brings Calvin Kattar back down to earth
The most impressive aspect of Moicano's performance was that he totally took Kattar out of his game. In his first two matches in the UFC, Kattar landed 6.27 significant strikes per minute. However, against Moicano, Kattar managed to only land 2.73 significant strikes per minute. On the offensive end, Moicano landed 116 significant strikes, including outlanding Kattar on strikes to the leg 38 to 1.
While Moicano put on a masterful performance, that did not really come across in his DFS score. He scored 88 points based only on his 116 significant strikes and the decision win bonus. Kattar has shown himself to be extraordinarily durable, so going forward, Moicano should be more of a threat to finish and score major points.
Zabit Magomedsharipov shows off flashy striking against Kyle Bochniak
Magomedsharipov's style is probably what people who tuned into UFC 1 thought they were going to see. He moves around a lot at distance and scores with exotic spinning strikes. This style is not only a treat for fans, but it is effective in terms of striking offense and defense. In terms of offense, he landed 6.47 significant strikes per minute after reportedly breaking his hand in the locker room prior to the fight. Defensively, his movement helped him force Bochniak into missing 74 percent of his significant strike attempts. This was an overall impressive performance.
Magomedsharipov went to his wrestling in the final round to seal the fight, and those three extra takedowns helped pad his DraftKings score. He finished with 106.5 points, which was the third highest score of the night.
Chris Gruetzemacher pushes Joe Lauzon closer to retirement
Lauzon gave it all he had in the first half of the first round. From there it was all Gruetzemacher. While they were both active in the first round, 84 significant attempts for Lauzon and 89 for Gruetzemacher, "Gritz" landed at 59 percent compared to 41 percent for Lauzon. In the second round, the veteran's accuracy and activity both fell off a cliff. He attempted only 53 significant strikes and landed at 24 percent. Gruetzemacher sensed Lauzon was finished and turned it on. He landed 75 significant strikes at 70 percent. He did a lot of his best work in the clinch with 36 significant clinch strikes in the round. In the end, this fight could have been stopped much sooner.
Gruetzemacher's second round washout helped him finish with the second highest DraftKings score of the night. He finished with 134 points based on 128 significant strikes and the 70-point second-round finish bonus.
