This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos is closer to the end of his career than the beginning. However, he was able to remain a contender with a second-round stoppage victory over Australia's own Tuivasa. UFC Fight Night 142 was a tough night for Australian fighters in front of their home fans, but there were still many of strong performances to go around. 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.
Junior dos Santos returns to form against Tai Tuivasa
Tuivasa had a strong first round. He was landing his power punches, and it looked like Dos Santos might have been done after suffering a leg injury. In the opening round, Tuivasa outlanded the former heavyweight champion 12 to 10 on significant strikes. The second round was another story. Dos Santos landed five significant strikes at distance early in the round. One of those dropped Tuivasa to the floor. Once Dos Santos took the top position, he unleashed 11 significant strikes from the top position, and the referee stopped the bout. He landed only 11 of his 27 attempts on the ground, but Tuivasa was stuck and not defending properly, per the referee. This was Dos Santos' first stoppage victory since he finished Mark Hunt in 2013. Considering the current heavyweight landscape, Dos Santos might end up in a contender fight in the near future.
Dos Santos finished with 99 DraftKings points, which is not a very high score for a second-round finish. However, scores were low across the board for this card, and 99 points was good enough for the third-highest of the night.
Mauricio Rua completes epic comeback in the third against Tyson Pedro
This was basically a tale of two different fights. In the first round, Pedro landed 73 percent of his significant strikes and outlanded Rua 30 to 10. He later appeared to suffer a leg injury, and things quickly fell apart for him. In the next two rounds, Rua outlanded Pedro 20 to one in terms of significant strikes and finished the fight. Whether the result was influenced by an injury or not, "Shogun" deserves credit for surviving an early onslaught and simply making the second round.
Rua had one of three third-round finishes on the show, and that helped him finish with 94 DraftKings points. He also scored points via 30 significant strikes, three passes, three takedowns and a knockdown. He had the fifth-highest score of the night.
Justin Willis edges Mark Hunt in lackluster striking battle
Hunt had a lot of problems pulling the trigger in this fight. He finished with only 19 significant strikes and never landed more than nine in a round. Willis only landed six significant strikes in the first round, but he turned it on in the next two. He finished with 59 significant strikes, mostly thanks to a persistent jab. He won this fight, but a performance like this may not inspire very much going forward. This was the last fight on Hunt's UFC deal, and he is already 44 years old. It will be interesting to see where he ends up now.
Outside of those 59 significant strikes, Willis did not do very much. He ended up with only 59.5 DraftKings points, which was the lowest score among winning fighters on the card. He got the win, but he didn't do fantasy players any favors.
Anthony Rocco Martin pulls away in vital third round against Jake Matthews
This fight was likely headed towards a close decision. Matthews appeared to take the first round after outlanding Martin 14 to six on significant strikes. Martin got back in the fight in the second round and took the striking edge 15 to nine. However, the third round was all Martin. He locked in an anaconda choke early in the round and finished the fight. This was Martin's first submission win since he tapped Felipe Olivieri in 2016, but it was the ninth submission win of his career.
The fight was close, but not full of action. As a result, Martin finished with only 68.5 DraftKings points despite finishing the fight in the fourth round. The total was the lowest among finishers on the night, and he finished behind four fighters who went to decision.
Sodiq Yusuff finishes Suman Mokhtarian quickly in his UFC debut
There really isn't a better way to make your UFC debut. Sodiq landed 23 significant strikes in a little over two minutes and forced the referee to stop the bout. Mokhtarian, who came into this fight undefeated, had only been to decision once in his career, let alone lost. Yusuff's ability to land power strikes makes him a player in the featherweight division right off the bat.
The quick finish left Yusuff with the second-highest score of the night and the highest score on the main card. Not only will his power strikes make him an interesting featherweight prospect in the UFC, but that kind of power also makes him an intriguing choice in future DFS games.
Jimmy Crute and Paul Craig decide to grapple for three rounds
This was an interesting fight since there were a lot of grappling exchanges, and neither fighter could really get anything going on the feet. They combined to only land 11 significant standing strikes in the three-round fight. However, Craig landed three of his seven takedown attempts, and Crute landed two reversals and nine passes on the ground. In the final round, Crute was able to latch on a Kimura submission and stop the fight.
Normally when a fighter racks up high grappling numbers like Crute, they end up with an astronomically large DraftKings score. However, Crute's striking numbers were so low he only ended up with 95.5 points, which was the fourth-highest score of the night.
