This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
The UFC's trip to Minneapolis turned out to be quite a night of fights. In the main event, Francis Ngannou stopped his second-straight former champion with very little trouble. The rest of the card was filled with quick finishes, as eight of the 12 fights were stopped before the final bell. 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.
Francis Ngannou needs only nine significant strikes to stop Junior dos Santos
Going into this fight, it was clear that even though Dos Santos had the better overall striking numbers, Ngannou could stop this fight at any time. That turned out to be the case. He needed only nine significant strikes to stop the former champion in a little over a minute. Ngannou now has seven victories in the UFC in which he has landed 13 or fewer significant strikes, which is a testament to both his power and finishing ability. It is hard to imagine his staying out of a title fight for much longer.
On a night full of finishes, Ngannou had only the fifth-highest score of the night on DraftKings. He earned 104.5 points. If a player took Ngannou they were clearly hoping for a quick finish, and in that sense, he came through.
Joseph Benavidez shows he is the better striker against Jussier Formiga
A lot was made of Benavidez's scrambling ability following this fight, but it was really his distance striking where he had the biggest advantage. At distance, which is defined as standing and not in the clinch, he outlanded Formiga 44 to 15. He also landed a knockdown before finishing the fight on the floor. Benavidez holds a win over the current flyweight and bantamweight champion, and he should earn a shot at the flyweight title at the very least.
Thanks to his activity, the knockdown and the second-round finish, Benavidez earned players on DraftKings 108 points. It was the second-highest score of the night, and the highest score for a fighter who did not finish in the first round.
Demian Maia does just enough to edge Anthony Rocco Martin
Maia was almost in full grappler mode in this fight, and against fighters at this level, that is more than enough for him to win. He landed only three significant strikes in the 15-minute fight, but he also only absorbed six significant strikes in the first two rounds. Martin clearly won the third round, but he needed a finish. He threw 64 significant strike attempts in the round, but he was still scared to get close to Maia and landed only 25 percent of those attempts.
Even with three takedowns and four passes, Maia's activity level was so low that he earned the lowest score on DraftKings among winning fighters. He finished with only 63.5 points. At this point in his career, he really can't be relied on for meaningful points.
Vinc Pichel relies on activity and accuracy against Roosevelt Roberts
Throughout this fight, Roberts appeared to be the slicker striker, but he simply could not consistently land. He attempted only 87 significant strikes compared to 101 for Pichel. On top of that, he landed only 35 percent of those attempts, while Pichel landed 59 percent. In the third round with the fight seemingly on the line, Pichel outlanded Roberts 21 to four and took home the decision.
Pichel finished with 98 points on DraftKings, which was the highest score for a fighter who won via decision.
Drew Dober stops Marco Polo Reyes in a little over a minute
It looked like Dober came out throwing wild strikes, but he was actually very accurate. This might say more about Reyes' lack of defense, but Dober landed 59 percent of his 27 attempts in the first 1:07 of the fight. This was the quickest knockout of Dober's career, but he did have a 16-second stoppage in Strikeforce.
Dober had the second-highest score on the card with 108. He was behind only Maurice Greene, who scored 134.5 points in the first fight of the night.
Alonzo Menifield makes Paul Craig pay for spinning technique
Craig is clearly not a striker, but he did seem intent on throwing a lot of spinning kicks to initiate scrambles. While he was likely trying to get the fight on the floor, he left himself open for a big power shot from Menifield. He landed only eight significant strikes in the fight, but it was more than enough to stop Craig.
On a night full of finishes, Menifield's knockout was only the ninth-highest score on the night. He earned players 94 points, but he missed out on the knockdown points since Craig was already on the ground when the power shots started coming in.
