This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
The UFC returned to Brazil featuring a middleweight main event featuring former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort and TUF winner Kelvin Gastelum. The main card featured several highlight-reel finishes. 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.
Kelvin Gastelum takes care of business against Vitor Belfort
Gastelum came into this fight as a big favorite, and he took care of business. He needed to land only 25 significant strikes in order to score two knockdowns and finish the fight. There was an air of inevitability with this fight, and that was reflected in the DraftKings price. Gastelum was the most expensive fighter on the board at $9500. However, he backed it up and registered the highest point score as well, 126. Despite the high price, players paid only $75.40 per point for Gastelum, which is third lowest on the card.
Belfort has now been knocked out in four of last five bouts. He has always relied on his power, and that is simply leaving him as he advances in age. He still has not landed more than 20 significant strikes in a UFC bout. Belfort never landed a ton of strikes, but in his prime the few he landed made a difference.That is no longer the case.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua showed he still has power against Gian Villante
"Shogun" has always had power, and he showed it off once again. In this fight, he earned his 12th and 13th knockdowns to put him at fourth most all time in the UFC. Perhaps more impressive is the fact that he has landed a knockdown for every 53.38 significant strikes landed in the Octagon.
That power will always make "Shogun" an attractive choice from a DFS perspective. He ended up earning 122 points at only $69.67 per point, which was second lowest on the card.
Edson Barboza puts Beneil Dariush on a highlight reel
Dariush appeared to be on his way towards a huge win. At this point everyone knows that the path to victory against Barboza is to pressure him and force him to move backward. Dariush was doing just that. In the first round, he outlanded him 28 to 16 on significant strikes, and that trend was continuing into the second round. However, Barboza showed that even while backing up, he is dangerous. This was the Brazilian's first knockout victory since 2014. For someone with huge power and dynamic finishing ability it is odd that he has not stopped more opponents during the stretch. Then again, the UFC lightweight division is loaded with talent, and Barboza has been fighting some of the best recently.
Ray Borg takes a close decision over Jussier Formiga
Neither fighter was really able to get things going on the ground until the last round. In the third round, Borg landed all 15 of his significant strikes and basically sealed the victory in the mind of the judges. Formiga slightly outlanded Borg in terms of significant strikes in the first two rounds 30 to 21. It is likely that the judges were influenced by Borg's fruitless pursuit of takedowns in the second round. He failed on all five of his attempts, but judges usually, and incorrectly, reward that type of aggression.
Marion Reneau fights back against Bethe Correia to earn a draw
Correia seemed to be one step ahead through the first two rounds of this fight. It was a close striking battle, but Correia had the edge 41 to 36 on significant strikes. That all changed in the third round, when Reneau hurt Correia early and poured it on for the rest of the round. In the third, Renau outland Correia in terms of significant strikes 39 to 2. Two of the judges properly awarded the third round to Renau 10-8, which lead the the draw. Under the new DraftKings rules, fighters no longer earn points for winning rounds on the scorecard and instead only win round for decisions wins. This greatly lowered both fighters' scores.
Alex Oliveira turns the table on Tim Means
After looking dominant in their first fight, Means came into this fight as a heavy favorite. Unfortunately for him, Oliveira employed a much better gameplan in this fight. He made it a point to take the fight to the round. "Cowboy" attempted 11 takedowns and landed six of them. From there, he was able to wear Means down and eventually finish via submission. He earned players 109 DraftKings points and finished with the best value at only $66.06 per point.
