This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
The main card of UFC on Fox 24 delivered in a big way. Three of the four bouts were finishes and all four were memorable in their own unique ways. 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.
Demetrious Johnson matches title defense record against Wilson Reis
Johnson tied the record for most consecutive title defenses in style. He landed 108 significant strikes against Reis at a 58 percent clip. The offensive display earned fantasy owners 113 DraftKings points. However, what he did on the defensive side of the game is what really separated this performance from the rest. Reis managed to only land 16 significant strikes. Johnson forced the challenger to miss 91 percent of his significant strike attempts. This defensive effort allowed Johnson to put up a 6.21 striking differential (significant strikes landed per minute minus significant strikes absorbed per minute), which is far and away the best performance of his UFC/WEC career. His previous best was 5.33 against Henry Cejudo.
Rose Namajunas pours it on against Michelle Waterson
Despite winning via submission, Namajunas dominated this fight with her striking. She outlanded Waterson 47 to 22 on significant strikes, but that does not tell the whole story. On significant strikes to the head, she had the advantage 42 to 5. Waterson's striking offense was almost entire made up of leg kicks as she landed 13 of her 22 significant strikes to the legs.
As far as the finish goes, Namajunas once again showed off a dynamic ability to take the back in the same vein as B.J. Penn or Shinichi "B.J." Kojima. That ability will allow her to continually land submissions throughout her career. Consistent finishing ability is always attractive to DFS players, and the newer point distributions that emphasize grappling should cause Namajunas to get a higher salary her next time out -- depending on opponent, of course.
Robert Whittaker pulls off a shocker against Jacare Souza
Going into this fight, Whittaker's path to victory was keeping the fight on the feet and winning the striking battle. Not only did he execute this gameplan, but he also made it look easy. Jacare was only able to score one takedown, and Whittaker easily escaped back to his feet. The striking battle was hardly a contest. Whittaker outlanded Jacare 55 to 9 and forced the Brazilian to miss 75 percent of his significant strike attempts. Whittaker seems to have found his knockout power recently, which has resulted in back-to-back 100-plus DraftKing point performances. If he is not matched against a top contender next, he is a virtually lock to score major points.
Renato Moicano uses accurate striking to upset Jeremy Stephens
Moicano returned from a lengthy layoff and put on a striking clinic against Stephens. The crowd got on the Brazilian for seemingly running away during parts of this bout. However, he was still setting the tone for the fight and getting better of almost all of the exchanges. He ended up outlanding Stephens 70 to 56 in terms of significant strikes, but the biggest differentiation between these two came in the accuracy department. Moicano landed at a 60 percent rate, while Stephens missed 73 percent of his 207 significant strike attempts.
When it was all said and done, Stephens was handed loss No. 13 of his UFC tenure, the most in company history.
