This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
The UFC returned to pay per view for the first time in 2019. The main event fell apart at the last minute due to injury, so middleweight contender Israel Adesanya's fight with former champion Anderson Silva was pushed to the top. 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.
Israel Adesanya shows the effect age has had on Anderson Silva
At this stage of his career, Silva does not have the speed or athletic ability to hang with a striker like Adesanya. In the fight, Adesanya dominated in terms of output and landing strikes. Silva attempted only 4.80 significant strikes per minute, while Adesanya landed 4.33 per minute. The former champion's best round was the second. In that fame, he landed 20 of his 35 attempts, but Adesanya basically matcherd him by landing 20 of 39. The first and last rounds were not particularly close in terms of striking. For the fight overall, Adesanya outlanded Silva 65 to 31 and took the decision on all three cards.
Even though Adesanya clearly won the fight, he did not really fill out the stat sheet. He earned DraftKings players only 62.5 points, which was the lowest score among winning fighters on the card. As the highest-priced fighter at $9,600, fantasy owners were hoping for a quick stoppage (or at least higher volume) in order to get some value at that price tag. In his two previous fights, he averaged 133.5 points on DraftKings.
Lando Vannata cuts through Marcos Mariano's guard
This was a battle between two different levels of grappler. Vannata scored an early takedown and went to work on top. He landed 18 of his 20 significant strikes on the ground, passed guard twice and finished via submission. This was Vannata's first win in the UFC since 2016, so he likely needed this win to hold down his job in the promotion.
Vannata's dominance from the top position helped him put up the third-highest DraftKings score of the night. He finished with 111 points for the first-round victory. He closed as the second biggest betting favorite on the card, so he certainly lived up to expectations and provided high score.
Ricky Simon takes Rani Yahya out of his game
Simon needed to keep this fight standing, and he did a good job of stopping Yahya takedowns, scoring his own and avoiding any trouble on the floor. For the fight, Yahya failed on all nine of his takedown attempts, while Simon landed four of his five attempts. Simon also landed 54 significant strikes and two knockdowns to take the one-sided decision.
Simon's controlled aggression allowed him to build a respectable DraftKings score without falling into any submission trouble. He scored 103 points on DraftKings, which was the seventh highest score. Entering a fight that was essentially a pick'em, Simon was likely a pleasant surprise for players who added him to their roster.
Montana De La Rosa dominates on the ground Nadia Kassem
De La Rosa wanted to come out and put this fight on the ground, and she did just that. In both of the rounds, she scored an early takedown and worked from the top. For the fight, she landed two takedowns, seven passes and three submission attempts. She landed 14 of her 21 significant strikes on the ground. Kassem could not get get anything going in this fight and finished with only five significant strikes.
De La Rosa's ability to score takedowns and pass guard from the top led her to the second-highest score of the night. She finished with 111.5 points for the second-round finish.
Jim Crute forces the referee to save Sam Alvey
Alvey was certainly not happy about the stoppage, but Crute put himself into position to win this fight. Alvey was passive and waiting for his shot as per usual. Crute, on the other hand, came forward with his striking. He landed nine significant strikes at distance and scored a knockdown. He thought the fight was over, but he then followed up with five significant strikes on the ground, and the referee stopped the bout. Crute showed a grappling-based game in his UFC debut, so it was nice to see his diverse skillset on display here.
Crute earned the 90 point finish bonus and tacked on the knockdown and striking points. He finished with 107 points on DraftKings, which was the sixth highest score of the night.
