This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
In the main event of Jair Rozenstruik picked up the biggest win of his career against Alistair Overeem. The rest of the card featured multiple draws and some other odd results. 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 UFCStats.com.
Jair Rozenstruik stops Alistair Overeem with literally seconds left
Rozenstruik was well on the way to dropping a decision against Overeem. In the final second he scored a knockdown, which forced the referee to stop the bout. Even though Overeem was ahead on all the scorecards, Rozenstruik got the better of the distance striking in four of the five rounds. The two fighters tied with eight strikes landed each in the fourth round, but all others favored Rozenstruik. He also outlanded Overeem overall on significant strikes 89 to 74. Perhaps surprising, the former kickboxer was able to defend eight of the 10 takedown attempts and survived on the ground.
One of the benefits of taking a fighter in a five-round fight on DraftKings is that they have time to put up a solid score even if they do not score a quick finish. That is what happened here with Rozenstruik. For his last second knockout victory, he earned players 94.5 points. It was the ninth-highest score of the night for an event with an average score of 60.89.
Cynthia Calvillo comes on strong in the third to escape with a draw against Marina Rodriguez
This fight appeared to belong to Rodriguez after two rounds. She held the significant strike edge 51 to 34 and defended herself well on the ground when Calvillo scored takedowns. The third round was an entirely different story. Calvillo scored an early takedown and went to work. At the end of the round, she had outlanded Rodriguez 44 to five. It was enough to take the third round via a 10-8 score, which earned the draw.
This bout was one of two on the main card to end as a draw. Normally when neither fighter wins, it is a lose-lose situation for DraftKings players who selected either fighter. In some ways that is true here, as neither fighter finished with a score inside the top 10. However, Calvillo finished with 75 points, which was the highest score for a fighter who did not win on the night.
Ben Rothwell stages comeback against Stefan Struve following low blows
As referee Dan Miragliotta pointed out to Stefan Struve during a break in the action, he was probably winning both the first and second rounds before receiving his second damaging low blow. Following the low blow, Rothwell took over the bout. He scored a knockdown and finished. In the second round, he outlanded Struve 39 to 30. Struve looked solid in the first round. He outlanded Rothwell 23 to 19 and landed 76 percent of his significant strike attempts. However, that all changed with the low blows.
Rothwell finished with the fourth-highest score of the night on DraftKings and the second highest for a fighter without a first-round finish. He scored 109 points via 58 landed significant strikes, a knockdown and the second round finish.
Aspen Ladd storms back in the third round against Yana Kunitskaya
Ladd had a lot of trouble in the first two rounds of this fight. Kunitskaya owned the clinch position where she outlanded Ladd 26 to two on significant strikes. She also outlanded Ladd 46 to 32 overall. However, in the third round, Ladd came out like a house of fire. She scored an early knockdown and outlanded Kunitskaya 15 to one to stop the fight.
Ladd had the seventh highest score on DraftKings. Her 97.5 points was a big improvement over her last fight where she failed to even register a single point.
Cody Stamann and Yadong Song fight to odd draw
It is tough to see how this fight was a draw. Stamann outlanded Yadong 41 to 30 on significant strikes. He also dominated the grappling exchanges as he landed five of 12 takedown attempted and passed guard six times on the floor. Yadong was also deducted a point, so it is hard to see how the judges thought things were even.
This was the other fight to end as a draw on the main card. If Stamann had taken the decision as expected, he would have ended up with a respectable 93.5 DraftKings score. Instead players were forced to live with a 63.5 score.
Rob Font shows off against Ricky Simon
This was an impressive performance from Font. Simon had his moments and landed six of his 16 takedown attempts. However, Font was the one dictating the fight and getting better of the exchanges. He outlanded Simon 90 to 59 overall on significant strikes including 84 to 46 at distance.
While Font impressively edged Simon in an exciting fight, he did not set the DraftKings world on fire. He finished with only 80 points, which was the lowest score for a winning fighter on the night.
