This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
In the main event of UFC 222, Cris Cyborg successfully defended her featherweight title for the first time. In the co-main event, Brian Ortega announced himself as a legitimate featherweight title contender with a knockout victory over a former champion. 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
Cris Cyborg takes care of business against Yana Kunitskaya
As expected, Cyborg was dominant against her undersized challenger. She landed 33 significant strikes in less than four minutes and finished the fight. In her five-fight UFC career, Cyborg has outlanded her opponents 335 to 100 in terms of significant strikes, and 44 of the strikes against her were done by Holly Holm at UFC 219. Unless Cyborg faces bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, she will continue to be a huge favorite. Per Fight Matrix, the second ranked female featherweight in the world is Germaine de Randamie, and she already gave up the belt to avoid fighting Cyborg.
Against this type of opponent, Cyborg is basically a lock to put up major points. She ended the night with 111.5 DraftKings points, which was the second highest of the night. If she had managed to land a knockdown, she would have been the biggest point scorer of the night.
Brian Ortega became the first person to stop Frankie Edgar
Ortega continues to defy stats during his UFC run. After his debut was declared a "no contest" he has now won six-straight fights. All six of those fights have been stoppage wins. In four of those six fights he has been outlanded, including his last three wins. Edgar seemed to be getting the better of the exchanges until Ortega stepped in with an elbow and finished the fight. The former champion had never been stopped in 28 career fights. Ortega is now certainly a contender in the featherweight division.
With the first round knockout, Ortega scored the highest DraftKings score of the night. Based on 25 significant strikes, a knockdown and the first-round finish bonus, he put up 112.5 points. Ortega's ability to finish fights makes him a consistent point scorer in DFS. This fight seemed to be a bridge too far for him, but he came through for players anyway.
Sean O'Malley shows off before injury against Andre Soukhamthath
Before injuring his foot in the third round, O'Malley was putting together a masterful performance. Through two rounds, he outlanded Soukhamthath 51 to nine on significant strikes. His ability to avoid offense from an opponent and score with exotic strikes portends a solid future for him as a prospect.
While O'Malley had an eye opening performance, Soukhamthath did not leave fans with much to celebrate. In the final round, O'Malley was badly injured. If Soukhamthath had simply backed away, he likely would have won the fight. Instead, he attempted five takedowns and allowed O'Malley to stay in the fight and take the decision.
O'Malley likely would have finished with more DraftKings points had he not suffered an injury in the final round. He finished with 69.5 points, which was only 10th best on the night. In the future, he will likely need to throw more strikes and thus his score will be higher.
Andrei Arlovski keeps his career alive against Stefan Struve
Arlovski has brought his career back to life multiple times. This win might not have put him back in the title picture, but it will certainly keep him going. He did it by outworking the younger fighter. He attempted 121 strikes, while Struve attempted only 78. He attempted nine takedowns and finished four. In his previous 24 UFC fights, he had landed only three takedowns.
Arlovski finished with 84 DraftKings points. While he normally only scores points with strikes, he also scored with four takedowns, two passes and a reversal. These extra stats were surprising since on paper Struve was the better grappler.
Ketlen Vieira dominates Cat Zingano with her grappling game
For the second-straight fight, Vieira dominated a respected grappler with her counter takedowns and top game. She stopped both of Zingano's attempts and landed a pair of her own. On the ground, she passed the guard seven times and earned a submission attempt. Zingano ended up taking the significant strike advantage 59 to 41, but that did not tell the story of this fight.
Vieira earned players 81.5 DraftKings points. If she is ever matched up with a lesser grappler, she will be a huge threat to score a quick submission and put up major points.
