This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
On Saturday, the UFC hosted one of the least hyped FOX cards in recent memory. In the main event, middleweight contender Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza picked up his second first-round knockout over Derek Brunson. 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.
Jacare Souza Stopped Derek Brunson in the first round
The former Strikeforce champion needed only nine significant strikes to finish Brunson. In their previous fight back in 2012, he landed only five significant strikes before the referee stepped in to stop the bout. In his combined UFC/Strikeforce career, "Jacare" now has nine first-round finishes.
While Brunson clearly has the power to finish fights in the first round, it is becoming more and more apparent that he is also susceptible to quick finishes. In his UFC/Strikeforce career, he has been knocked out four times and three of those have come in the first round.
"Jacare" finished with 104.5 DraftKings points for the quick knockout. It is his seventh time he has finished with at least 100 points in his 10-fight UFC career. Not only is Souza one of the best middleweights on the planet, but he also has rarely-seen finishing power. He's almost always a great selection in DFS.
Andre Fili escaped with a decision over Dennis Bermudez
This was a tough decision to handle for a lot of folks. Fili took the fight on two of the three scorecards, but 12 of the 15 media scores tracked by MMADecisions had the fight for Bermudez. From a striking stat perspective, it also appears as if Bermudez did the better work. He outlanded Fili 103 to 80 in terms of significant strikes over the course of the fight, and he landed more in each of three rounds. However, as often seen in MMA, judges seem to award activity over effective offense. While Bermudez was landing more significant strikes, Fili was throwing more significant strikes. It is possible this swayed judges Pedor Claudio and Derek Cleary.
Despite the close fight, Fili finished with a respectable 93 DraftKings points. While he only received the 30-point decision bonus, he landed 80 significant strikes, four takedowns and one pass to pad his score. If Bermudez had taken the decision, his score would have jumped from 59.5 to 89.5. The decision probably led to disgruntled DFS players.
Gregor Gillespie put up the highest DraftKings score of the year versus Jordan Rinaldi
Gillespie was a huge betting favorite coming into this fight, and he proved the bookmakers right with this performance. His striking on the feet is still a work in progress, but when he can score takedowns he is brutally effective. The former Edinboro wrestler took the fight to the ground in the first round landed 28 of his 34 significant strikes in that position to finish the bout. Since he was working from the top, he absorbed zero ground strikes and only seven significant strikes in the fight.
With 133 DraftKings points, Gillespie tied Cory Sandhagen for the highest score of the night and 2018 so far. Playing huge favorite is not always the best strategy in DFS, but any player who chose the play Gillespie probably felt great about it following his fight on Saturday.
Drew Dober edged out Frank Camacho for a decision victory
This was another close fight on the main card. Dober ended up taking the decision. He outlanded Camacho 145 to 106 on significant strikes. He held the advantage in the first two rounds, but in the third round Camacho edged him out 52 to 48. The first round seemed to be the most contentious. Dober got the better of the striking, 30 to 17 on significant strikes, but Camacho scored a pair of takedowns and scored three passes on the ground.
Dober finished with 102.5 DraftKings points, which was the highest score of a decision winner on the night. It is also the second highest score in a decision win on the year behind only Irene Aldana who scored 103 points at UFC Fight Night 124.
