This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
Since returning to the UFC in 2017, Chan Sung Jung has been on a tear. "The Korean Zombie" picked up yet another victory on Saturday as he bested former UFC champion Frankie Edgar with a first round finish. The rest of the main card was intended to be a showcase for South Korean fighters, but there were some shocking upsets. 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 UFCStats.com.
Chan Sung Jung walks through former champion Frankie Edgar
Edgar may have had the advantage if he were able to score takedowns, but "The Korean Zombie" made sure that the fight did not get that far. He was on Edgar from the opening bell. He stopped both of Edgar's early takedown attempts and outlanded him 46 to 9 on significant strikes. He scored a knockdown and landed 38 significant strikes on the ground to finish the fight. Since returning to the UFC from an extended absence in 2017, Jung now has knockdowns in three of his four UFC fights. Considering the current state of the featherweight division, he can't be that far from a title shot.
Jung edged out Alexander Pantaoja for the highest score of the night on DraftKings. He finished with 126 points for the quick finish. Jung is both a volume striker and a finisher. It is hard to imagine how high DraftKings will need to set his price to make him a less valuable addition to a team.
Volkan Oezdemir takes questionable decision over Aleksandar Rakic
Only eight media members were submitting scores to MMADecisions.com due to the early nature of this card. Seven of those eight had this fight scored for Rakic, and for the most part, the stats agree with that assessment. Rakic outlanded Oezdemir in the first two rounds of the fight and took the overall edge on significant strikes 63 to 75. Rakic was the one moving forward, as he attempted nine takedowns and landed one. Oezdemir landed some hard strikes including 21 leg kicks, which appeared to damage Rakic. However, it is hard to see how Rakic did not outwork him in this contest.
As is often the case in close decisions, Oezdemir finished with only 61.5 points on DraftKings. This was the second-lowest score among winning fighters on the night and kept out of last place by only half a point.
Charles Jourdain shocks Doo Ho Choi
This was a wild two-round fight. Both fighters scored knockdowns in the first round, and Choi finished with a one-strike edge on significant strikes, 29-28. The second round was an entirely different story. Jourdain landed a second knockdown as well as 36 significant strikes to stop the fight and score the upset. Choi was as high as (-505) on some sportsbooks going into this fight. After starting his career with a blazing streak of knockouts, Choi has now lost three in a row and been stopped in back-to-back fights.
Any player who took a risk on Jourdain in DFS was handsomely rewarded. He finished with 122 points on DraftKings, which was the third-highest score of the night. Considering his underdog status, this was likely a determining score for several contests.
Da Un Jung has a quick night against Mike Rodriguez
Going into this fight, Jung said he wanted to showcase more of his power after winning by submission in his UFC debut. He did just that against Rodriguez. He needed only five significant strikes to score a knockdown and stop his opponent. In his UFC debut, he landed 81 significant strikes and never really came close to scoring a knockdown.
For the quick finish, Jung earned players 102.5 points on DraftKings. It was the fifth-highest score of the night. It had to be somewhat surprising to players considering he seemed like a different fighter in his debut.
Jun Yong Park does enough to best Marc-Andre Barriault
Park proved beyond any reasonable doubt that he is a better striker than Barriault. He outlanded his opponent 77 to 51 on significant strikes. He landed at a better percentage, 41 percent compared to 31 percent. Park also outworked his opponent throughout the three-round fight. He attempted 187 significant strikes, while Barriault attempted only 160. Park also landed five of his 10 takedown attempts, while his opponent failed on his only two.
It was mostly a workmanlike performance from Park, so he did not finish with a top score on DraftKings. However, his five landed takedowns did help push him to a 93.5 score, which is respectable for a decision victory.
Kyung Ho Kang goes to the 'lay and pray' offense to defeat Pingyuan Liu
This was a tough fight all around. Kang was able to score takedowns and hold position in this fight. He was not able to do much else. Neither fighter landed over 10 significant strikes in a round until the third when Pingyuan went for broke and landed 11. Both fighters were active on the floor as Kang finished with 108 total strikes, Pingyuan finished with 114. However, neither fighter was able to create enough range and power to make those strikes significant.
This lackluster victory from Kang earned players only 61 points on DraftKings. It was the lowest score from a winning fighter on the night.
