This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
The UFC returned to Denver for their 25th anniversary show. The main event turned out to be a fight worthy of the occasion. Yair Rodriguez and Chan Sung Jung went back and forth until Rodriguez landed a reverse elbow, which finished the fight. The main card also featured several impressive performances and some new UFC records. 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.
Yair Rodriguez scores memorable fifth-round finish over Chan Sung Jung
The finish to this fight will go down in history as one of the best fight endings ever. With the fight seemingly in hand, Jung rushed forward with a combination, Rodriguez ducked and delivered a devastating six-to-12 elbow. Jung was out before he hit the ground. The striking battle was relatively even. Jung landed 126 significant strikes, while Rodriguez landed 119. However, Jung was the one making a concerted effort to land head strikes. He landed 111 of his 126 significant strikes to the head (88 percent). On the other hand, Rodriguez was much more diverse with his striking attack. He landed 59 to the head, 24 to the body and 36 to the legs. However, in the end, Rodriguez landed the head strike that turned out to be the most important.
Rodriguez's performance was the best of both worlds for DFS players. He fought long enough to put up major stats, and he still scored the late finish. He earned 109.5 points, which was the second-highest score of the night behind only Maycee Barber.
Donald Cerrone sets a pair of UFC records against Mike Perry
With this first-round submission victory, Cerrone set the record for most wins in UFC history with 21. He also passed both Vitor Belfort and Anderson Silva for the most finishes in UFC history with 15. In the fight, he failed on his only takedown, but he was able to get on top after he reversed Perry. In the scramble he locked on the armbar and finished the fight. Cerrone last won via submission against Alex Oliveira in 2016.
Cerrone had one of three first-round finishes on the night. Thanks mostly to the 90-point first-round finish bonus, he earned players 105.5 DraftKings points. It was the fourth-highest score of the night.
Germaine de Randamie edges Raquel Pennington at distance
Pennington's best offense in this fight was pushing her way into the clinch. Unfortunately, that is not really a rewarded technique. At distance, De Randamie has a big advantage. For the fight, she outlanded Pennington 42 to 24, but she had a big advantage at distance. At range, she outlanded Pennington 25 to 13.
De Randamie had the lowest score among winners on the night with 51 DraftKings points. Her score was actually lower than Jung put up in the main event (63).
Beneil Dariush imposes his will against Thiago Moises
Dariush is at his best when he is able to get on top and impose his will with via positions and striking. That was certainly the case here against Moises. He landed four takedowns, five passes and outlanded his opponent 34 to one on the floor. That was basically the entire story of the fight.
Even though this fight went to decision, Dariush was able to rack up a respectable score on DraftKings thanks to his activity. He earned 35 points via grappling alone and finished with 87 points, which was the seventh-highest score of the night.
Maycee Barber finishes Hannah Cifers on the ground
The first round of this fight was relatively close. In the first five minutes, Cifers had the edge on significant strikes 35 to 34. However, the second round was an entirely different story. Barber outlanded Cifers 34 to six overall on significant strikes, but the biggest difference came on the ground. Barber landed 23 significant strikes and finished the fight. Barber was also impressively accurate throughout the contest and landed 70 percent of her significant strike attempts.
Barber put up the highest score of the night. She earned 112 points based on 68 significant strikes, one pass, one takedown and the 70-point second-round finish bonus.
Mike Trizano uses a diverse striking attack to best Luis Pena
This was an impressive performance from Trizano. He has clearly made strides since his debut last July. For the fight, Trizano outlanded Pena 51 to 23 on significant strikes. He did a good job of mixing up his targets. He landed 25 strikes to the head, 10 to the body and 16 to the legs. Trizano enjoyed a 16 to two advantage in terms of strikes to the leg, and those strikes had a big impact on the fight.
As impressive as Trizano's performance was, it did really result in a high score. He finished with 65.5 points, which means he scored only 35.5 points outside of the decision-win bonus.
