This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
UFC on Fox 28 did not have the most star power, but the event still delivered from an excitement standpoint. In the main event, Jeremy Stephens continued his unlikely rise through the featherweight division. In the co-main event, Jessica Andrade notched the highest DraftKings score of the year. 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.
Jeremy Stephens' power was once again on display against Josh Emmett
Stephens was once again able to put his power on display. Ignoring the seemingly obvious illegal blows, Stephens was able to put Emmett down and out in the second round. In his last three bouts, the featherweight contender has scored 7 knockdowns, which equated to 3.59 knockdowns per 15 minutes of fight time. Stephens has always had power, but his current run is borderline absurd.
For the second-round finish, Stephens took home 92 DraftKings points. The majority of his points came via the second-round finish bonus, but he is a consistent power threat who always has the chance to finish the fight.
Jessica Andrade dominated Tecia Torres on the ground and in the clinch
Since coming down to stawweight, Andrade has been near-dominant in the clinch and on the ground. In those two positions, she has outlanded her opponents 291 to 99 in terms of significant strikes. That was once again the case against Torres. In the clinch and on the ground, Andrade outlanded Torres 55 to 8. Her ability to control where the fight took place was also essential in this fight. She scored multiple takedowns and seemingly passed guard at will.
Andrade's 155 DraftKings points were not only the highest score of the night, but also the highest score the year. Boosted by 10 takedowns and eight passes, she finished 15.5 points ahead of the year's previous high scorer, Valentina Shevchenko.
Ilir Latifi scores a knockdown and finishes via submission against Ovince Saint Preux
This was Latifi's first submission victory in the UFC since 2014. Despite scoring the finish with his grappling, he got most of the hard work done with his striking power. Latifi picked up his fourth knockdown in the UFC. During his run in the promotion, he has scored 0.93 knockdowns per 15 minutes of fighting. Since 2015, Latifi has won five out of his last six bouts with his only loss coming against current Bellator champion Ryan Bader.
Latifi finished with the second highest point total on the main card and fourth highest of the night. He earned players 112.5 DraftKings points on the back on 25 significant strikes, a knockdown and the first-round finish bonus.
Max Griffin stays ahead of Mike Perry
Griffin was able to take this fight with his striking. Perry is known as a hard hitter, but Griffin was able to get the better of him with his speed. He ended up outlanding Perry 78 to 45 on significant strikes. The 78 significant strikes comes out to 5.2 significant strikes per minute, which is well above his career mark in the UFC (3.63). If he is able to duplicate that hand speed, he should have a bright future in the UFC welterweight division.
While Griffin was able to stay ahead of Perry, he was not really able to put up the highest DFS score. He finished with 79 points based on 78 significant strikes, a knockdown and the decision-win bonus.
