This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
The UFC returned to New York for the second time in 2016 for a Fight Night show in Albany. In the main event, heavyweights Derrick Lewis and Shamil Abdurakhimov faced off in a lackluster fight that ended in the championship rounds. 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.
It was only a matter of time for Derrick Lewis
Through the first 15 minutes of this fight, Lewis was on pace to have his worst striking output performance of his career. He landed only 12 strikes, which is 0.8 significant strikes per minute. That changed in a big way in the fourth round. Lewis was able to land his first takedown of the fight, and he did serious work on top. In the fourth round alone, he landed 27 significant strikes and forced the referee to stop the bout.
Shamil Abdurakhimov employed a relatively effective strategy throughout the majority of this fight. Lewis is most dangerous at punching distance and on top. Abdurakhimov mostly circled away and tried to clinch and score takedowns. He did score four takedowns and outlanded Lewis in terms of total strikes 77 to 46. However, only 15 of those 77 strikes were considered significant by FightMetric. He simply was not doing enough damage against Lewis, and even though he built a lead in the fight, it was only a matter of time until he felt the power of Lewis.
Francis Ngannou goes to the submission game to defeat Anthony Hamilton
Not only was this Ngannou's first submission victory in the UFC, it was also his first attempt in the promotion. Despite mostly striking in his first few UFC bouts, Ngannou is no stranger to the submission game. Three of his first five professional wins all came via submission, including a 44-second guillotine choke over Luc Ngeleka in 2014. This was the first time in the 30-year-old's career that he has finished a fight using a Kimura.
Corey Anderson never let Sean O'Connell get on track
When Anderson is successful, he prevents his opponents from implementing their striking offense. That was certainly the case on Friday night. In his two UFC losses, Anderson allowed his opponents to land over three significant strikes per minutes: 3.2 against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and 4.9 against Gian Villante. O'Connelll managed to land only nine total significant strikes (or 1.18 per minute) against Anderson.
Gian Villante vs. Saparbek Safarov was all offense
Defense was at a premium in this fight. Villante landed 7.59 significant strikes per minute, while Safarov landed 4.68. Safarov appeared to injury his knee halfway through the first round. After that, his output fell off a cliff. In the first five minutes, he landed 31 significant strikes, but he only managed six in the second round before being stopped.
Defense is not a strong point for Villante. He has only been stopped twice in his UFC/Strikeforce career, but he allows his opponents to land 5.20 significant strikes per minute while landing only four himself. If he ever wants to move into contendership, he will need to find a way to avoid more of his opponents' strikes.
