This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
While most of the combat sports world was focused on the second fight between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, the UFC made their first trip to Moscow. In the main event, Aleksei Oleinik showed off his submission skill and experience in a win over Mark Hunt. The UFC Fight Pass event featured many debuting fighters and return of some veterans. 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.
Aleksei Oleinik adds to his career submission total with quick finish of Mark Hunt
The story coming into this fight was well known. If the fight stayed on the feet, Hunt would have a big advantage. If the fight went to the ground, Oleinik would have a legitimate shot to finish the bout. After absorbing six strikes at distance, with four coming via leg kicks, Oleinik scored a takedown, passed to the back and finished with a rear-naked choke. In his 69-fight MMA career, Oleinik has won 45 fights via submission. This was his sixth submission win since joining the UFC in 2014.
Oleinik did not have a lot of time to earn points for DFS, but he still earned major points via the quick finish. He earned players 99.5 DraftKings points. Over the course of his career, Oleinik has proven himself to be a dangerous finisher, which means has almost always has potential to put up points.
Jan Blachowicz welcomes Nikita Krylov back to the UFC with arm-triangle choke
Krylov left the UFC in late 2016. At the time, he was the 16th ranked light heavyweight, per Fight Matrix. While he was away, he went 4-0, held his own in the rankings and knocked off a former Bellator champion. In his return, he was expected to defeat Blachowicz and move into contendership in the shallow light heavyweight division. However, Blachowicz had other plans.
Neither fighter was able to get anything going on the feet, as they combined to landed only three significant strikes. In the second round, Blachowicz scored a takedown, went to the back and finished with an arm-triangle choke. It was only the ninth submission victory in the kickboxer's MMA career. Krylov has historically been vulnerable on the floor. In his career, he has lost six times and five have come via submission.
Blachowicz was one of only five fighters to score a finish at UFC Moscow. He finished with 92 points, which was the sixth-highest score of the night He earned points via 10 landed significant strikes, four passes, one takedown and the second-round finish bonus.
Shamil Abdurakhimov edges Andrei Arlovski in lackluster fight
In a 15-minute fight, Abdurakhimov and Arlovski combined to land 21 significant strikes at distance. Abdurakhimov had the overall significant strike advantage 32 to 18, but neither fighter was really able to get going. Arlovski never landed more than nine significant strikes in a round and finished with only 1.20 significant strikes landed per minute. If the Derrick Lewis vs. Francis Ngannou was in another year, this would be a serious contender for least exciting fight of the year.
Abdurakhimov earned players 56 DraftKings points. That means that outside of the 30-point decision win bonus, he managed to earn only 26 points. That is another illustration of the lack of action in this contest.
Aleksei Kunchenko edges Thiago Alves in close decision
It appears as if Kunchenko got a lot of credit from the judge for his forward pressure. Normally in controversial decisions, the fighter who is more active takes the nod. In this case, Alves not only landed more than Kunchenko, but he also threw more. Alves attempted 175 significant strikes and landed 56, while Kunchenko attempted 153 and landed 44. Alves had the advantage in the first two rounds, but Kunchenko pulled ahead in the third round and landed 29 significant strikes while absorbing on 21.
The judges may have been influenced by the fighters' choice of target. Alves landed 26, or 46 percent, of his significant strikes to Kunchenko's leg. On the other hand, Kunchenko landed 32, or 73 percent, of his significant strikes to Alves' head. In their estimation, head strikes may have appeared to be more impactful on the fight.
Kunchenko had the ninth-highest score of the night with 57 DraftKings points in his UFC debut. He did enough to take the scorecards, but he did not do much to inspire players to take him in future games.
