This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
The UFC hosted their first show in Argentina. In the main event, one of the few fighters on the roster from Argentina scored an impressive stoppage victory. On the undercard, Michel Prazeres finishes with the highest DraftKings score of the night with 123 points. 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.
Santiago Ponzinibbio uses leg kicks to set up knockout over Neil Magny
The final striking stats were actually very close, but the fight was not. Ponzinibbio landed 79 significant strikes, while Magny landed 72. Throughout the contest, Ponzinibbio's strikes were much harder and caused much more damage. In the fourth round, he scored a knockdown to the legs and took Magny off his feet with leg kicks multiple times in the early rounds. For the fight, he landed 21 of his 23 attempted significant leg kicks. It seemed like he could have ended the fight with those kicks, but instead waited to do it with punches.
Defensively Ponzinibbio forced Magny to only landed 28 percent of his significant strike attempts. Magny was very active, as he attempted 251 significant strikes, but he could not manage to land. In his last six fights, Ponzinibbio has only allowed an opponent to land over 40 percent of their attempts once.
Ponzinibbio finished with 99.5 DraftKings points for the fourth-round finish. He earned a pair of knockdowns in the first two rounds, but DFS players who selected Ponzinibbio likely wanted a few more knockdowns in the early rounds. However, those did not materialize.
Ricardo Lamas finishes Darren Elkins in the third
The co-main event is another fight where the striking stats do not really tell the whole story. For the fight, Lamas slightly outlanded Elkins on significant strikes 70 to 62. However, Elkins did not wear the damage well and was bleeding badly throughout the contest. In the final round, Lamas took the top position and sealed the fight. He landed 12 of his 17 significant ground strikes in the final frame, and the referee had seen enough.
With only 70 significant strikes and a third-round finish, players probably were not expecting a high DraftKings score from Lamas. However, he also scored with a pass, a reversal and three takedowns. With those additional stats, he finished with 103 points, which was the fifth-highest score of the night.
Johnny Walker makes quick work of Khalil Rountree
Walker wasted virtually no action against Rountree. He landed 10 of his 11 significant strike attempts, scored a knockdown and finished the fight. The elbow he landed to Rountree's head was amazingly hard and loud. Rountree may not be a ranked light heavyweight, but he has been a solid stand-up fighter. Before this fight, a lot of his issues came when the fights ended up on the ground. This was a very impressive debut for Walker.
Walker had one of the four first-round finishes on the night. He finished with 105 DraftKings points, which tied him for the third-highest score of the night. The line on Walker closed at an average of (+132), so players certainly received a positive return on their investment.
Ian Heinisch edges Cezar Ferreira in lackluster fight
Ferreira could not get anything going with his striking in this fight. He landed six significant strikes in the first round, nine in the second and 11 in the third. He had some success in the second round by landing three takedowns, but Heinisch outlanded him and closed the round with a knockdown. Overall, Heinisch outlanded the Brazilian 55 to 26 on significant strikes and deserved the decision. Otherwise, there is not much to say about this fight.
Even with the knockdown, Heinisch finished with only 75.5 DraftKings points, which was only a half point above the lowest score for a winner on the night.
Marlon Vera storms back to finish Guido Cannetti in the second round
This fight was a tale of two rounds. In the opening frame, Cannetti outlanded Vera 21 to eight on significant strikes. In the second round, Vera turned the tide and finished the fight. He outlanded Cannetti 16 to three and landed a knockdown, a pass and two submission attempts. The second submission attempt finished the fight. Vera mentioned after the fight that he is a slow starter, and the stats certainly back up that assessment.
Vera tied Walker for the third-highest DraftKings score of the night. He earned 105 points based on 24 significant strikes, one pass, one knockdown, two takedowns and the second-round finish bonus.
Cynthia Calvillo dominates Poliana Botelho on the floor
The betting line moved away from Calvillo after she publicly struggled to make weight. However, she was always the better fighter, and it showed. She outlanded Botelho 22 to six on significant strikes overall, but her ground game was the story in this fight. She landed a pair of takedowns, passed guard twice and finished via submission. In terms of ground striking, she landed 11 significant ground strikes while absorbing only one.
Calvillo filled out the stat sheet in her short fight, and that turned into the second-highest score of the night. She will finished with 117 points, which was ahead of everyone outside of Michel Prazeres.
