As the excitement over Mayweather vs. McGregor began to fade, the UFC returned with UFC Fight Night 115 in Rotterdam. In the main event, Alexander Volkov emerged as a dark horse title contender with a victory over veteran Stefan Struve. 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 pours it on against Stefan Struve
The fight was closer than the number suggest. The significant strike numbers make it seem like a total washout. Volkov outlanded Struve 135 to 41. The Russian made it a point to attack Struve's legs. He landed 33 leg kicks compared to only seven by Struve. The real story in this fight was accuracy and volume. Volkov attempted 253 significant strikes, which was 91 more than Struve. He also landed 53 percent of his attempts, while Struve only managed to land 25 percent.
Volkov finished with 135.5 DraftKings points. With his volume approach, he should almost always be considered in five round fights. Win or lose, Volkov will put up points by way of his significant strikes.
Siyar Bahadurzada shows off power striking against Rob Wilkinson
Wilkinson made this a fight, but he was out of his depth. Also, the referee did not do him any favors and allowed him to take way too much punishment. Bahadurzada has always been a power striker, but injuries have derailed his career. In this fight, he landed 43 significant strikes at a 53 percent clip. Wilkinson made it interesting with a pair of takedowns, but Bahadurzada shut those down and went for the finish in the second round.
Bahadurzada earned players 121.5 points in DraftKings. He earned 30 points for three knockdowns, which is extremely rare in today's UFC.
Marion Reneau wears out Talita Bernardo and finishes in the third
Reneau looked dominant after a close first round. Of course, Bernardo took this fight on short notice and was clearly exhausted after the first five minutes. Going forward, Reneau will need to find a way to throw power shots in the clinch and on the ground. She landed 118 total strikes in the fight, but only 57 were considered significant. It will be interesting to see what Bernardo can do with a full training camp.
Despite the finish, Reneau ended up with only 84.5 DraftKings points. She did not score any takedowns and her low significant strike output hurt her score.
Leon Edwards uses diverse scoring to defeat Bryan Barberena
Edwards took a cautious approach to this fight, and it nearly cost him. He ended up doing enough with ground positions in the first and third rounds to win, but Barberena nearly knocked him out in the second round. Edwards landed only 23 significant strikes while absorbing 44. However, he landed three takedowns, passed guard five time and earned three submission attempts.
With only 23 landed significant strikes it is hard to finish with a high DraftKings score. However, Edwards finished with a respectable 71.5 due to his diverse scoring. He scored 30 points with his grappling due to three takedowns and five passes.
