This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
The UFC returned to London for a rare UFC Fight Pass event. In the main event, former Bellator champion Alexander Volkov knocked off former UFC champion Fabricio Werdum. In the opening bout of the night, Dmitry Sosnovskiy put up the highest DraftKings score, 114, for his second-round submission over Mark Godbeer. 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
Alexander Volkov comes on late to stop Fabricio Werdum
Werdum appeared to be the more skilled fighter with the better gameplan in this fight. However, he could not keep up with the younger fighter. In the first round, Werdum landed 20 significant strikes, that decreased to 14 in the second, 10 in the third and finally only four in the decisive fourth round. Volkov, who was on the defensive for most of the fight, was able to outlanded Werdum 17 to four before scoring the finish in the fourth round. So far in the UFC, Volkov has been able to use a volume striking approach to wear down an opponent. Against Werdum, he showed that he can survive against a superior grappler and land power strikes when he needed.
The more tactical approach did not do DFS players any favors. Volkov finished with only 84 DraftKings points. His 48 landed significant strikes was his lowest output in his UFC career since his debut. In his last two fights, he had landed 122 and 135 significant strikes respectively.
Jan Blachowicz tastes revenge against Jimi Manuwa
Blachowicz won this fight with his output and his accuracy. He attempted 191 significant strikes compared to 110 for Manuwa. The Polish fighter landed at a 50 percent rate, while Manuwa landed only 33 percent of his attempts. In their first fight, Manuwa landed 50 percent of his attempts. Blachowicz nearly finished the fight in the first round, but he saved his best for last. In the final round, Blachowicz outlanded his opponent 42 to 13.
While many expected Blachowicz to fall via quick knockout and give up a lot of DraftKings points, he ended up scoring 93.5 points in the upset victory. He came very close to landing more takedowns in this fight, but he could not hold position. That was likely frustrating for DFS players, but he still came up with a solid score for an underdog.
Tom Duquesnoy escapes with a decision win over Terrion Ware
Ware landed more strikes and seemed to be landing the better strikes throughout this fight. However, Duquesnoy got it done with his leg kicks. During the fight, he landed 31 significant strikes to the legs in this fight. He struggled in terms of every other target. Ware outlanded him 60 to 28 to the head and 15 to 8 to the body. However, in the end, the leg kicks were enough to sway the judges.
Duquesnoy finished with 63.5 DraftKings points. It was the second lowest score for a winner on the card. He actually only finished eight points ahead of Ware, which is common when the judges deliver a questionable decision.
Leon Edwards stops Peter Sobotta at the end of the third round
Edwards appeared to have the advantage on the feet in this fight, but he seemed to make a concerted effort to do work on the ground. He outlanded Sobotta 16 to 15 on significant strikes at distance, but on the ground, Edwards landed 25 significant strikes and shut out Sobotta. Against better wrestlers, Edwards might not be able to duplicate this strategy, but it looked dominant here against Sobotta.
Edwards finished with 98 DraftKings point. It was the highest score on the main card, but it was only fifth highest on the night since the undercard was full of quick finishes.
