This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
After all the drug testing drama, Jon Jones finally returned to the cage in the main event of UFC 232 and won back the light heavyweight title over Alexander Gustafsson. In the co-main event, UFC women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes shocked former UFC women's featherweight champion Cris Cyborg in less than a minute. 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.
Jon Jones brings home the belt against Alexander Gustafsson
Jones scored on his fifth takedown attempt after failing on his first four. Once he got on top, he unleashed 12 significant ground strikes and finished the fight. The light heavyweight champion has always had devastating ground and pound, but he was not able to show it in his first fight against Gustafsson. Another hallmark aspect of his performance was his striking defense. He came into this fight allowing the fewest significant strikes per minute at the lowest percentage of any ranked light heavyweight. That was once again on display here. Gustafsson only managed to land 22 significant strikes (1.83 per minute) at a 26 percent rate. On the other hand, Jones landed 57 percent of his attempts at a 4.90 per minute rate and dominated the fight.
By taking back the title, Jones earned DraftKings players 88.5 points. While it was a dominant performance, many players were likely hoping for another extensive striking battle. Both fighters were much more active in their first fight, and Jones finished with a higher score.
Amanda Nunes slays another legend
It was not the first time Nunes dispatched a legendary fighter, but it might have been the most brutal. She landed 13 significant strikes and two knockdowns in less than a minute and put down Cyborg. Cyborg had never been dropped in her UFC, Strikeforce and Elite XC career prior to this fight. Nunes has now stopped Cyborg, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate in less than a round combined and allowed those three opponents to land only 13 combined significant strikes.
Nunes' quick finish left her with 116.6 DraftKings points, which was the second highest score of the night. Even though she only landed 13 significant strikes, her two knockdowns helped pad her score and push her into the second-place spot.
Michael Chiesa dominates Carlos Condit on the floor
Throughout his career in the UFC and WEC, Condit has always had porous takedown defense. He made up for it with his ability to scramble and submit opponents from his back. However, against Chiesa, he not only surrendered the takedown, but he also got eaten up on the floor. Chiesa landed four of his five takedown attempts, passed guard three times and finished his only submission attempt. On top of that, it was basically a grappling match since he only landed six significant ground strikes and 10 significant strikes overall.
Chiesa finished with 104 points on DraftKings, which was the fifth highest score of the night. Even though he only landed 10 significant strikes, the quick finish and grappling techniques left his with a respectable score. There were a lot of players who went with Condit on reputation, but that strategy did not work out.
Corey Anderson edges Ilir Latifi in the striking
On paper, you might think that Anderson could score takedowns and take a position-based decision over Latifi. However, while he won, that was not his path to victory. In the first round, Anderson landed only 24 percent of his significant attempt was outlanded by Latifi. In the next two rounds, he got it together and outlanded his opponent 33 to 21. It may not have been the most impressive fight, but he was able to outpoint a more skilled striker with huge power.
If it had not been for a lackluster heavyweight fight, Anderson would have finished with the lowest DraftKings score among winners on the night. His 50 points only edged out Walt Harris who somehow defeated Andrei Arlovski.
Alexander Volkanovski shocks former featherweight contender Chad Mendes
This was a wild fight with both fighters landing knockdowns in the second and final round. The first round was a close affair as Volkanovski slightly outlanded Mendes 16 to 15. Mendes did landed one of his two takedown attempts, but he was unable to land any significant ground strikes. In the second round, Volkanovski finished with the advantage 38 to 13 and finished the fight. The biggest difference between the two was work rate on the feet. Volkanovski attempted 124 significant strikes while Mendes threw only 51.
Volkanovski has been a point scoring machine since he joined the UFC. In his six UFC fights, he has averaged 113.83 DraftKings points per fight. Interestingly enough, for this fight, he earned players only 107 points, which actually caused his average to drop. He has scored all these points without ever even scoring a first-round finish.
