This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
The UFC returned with a rare Sunday morning show. In the main event of UFC Fight Night 134, Anthony Smith picked up his second-straight win over a former champion as he knocked out Mauricio Rua in the first round. In the fourth fight of the night, Aleksandar Rakic upset Justin Ledet and put up the highest score of the night, 119. 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.
Anthony Smith knocks out former champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
Smith broke a string of nine-straight decisions on the card, and in the process picked up one of the biggest wins of his career. In less than two minutes, he landed 23 significant strikes at 74 percent, scored a knockdown and finished the fight. Since moving up to the light heavyweight division, Smith has landed 12.25 significant strikes per minute and finished a pair of former UFC light heavyweight champions.
Players who needed a big score from the main event were happy with Smith. On a card with very few finishes, he earned 111.5 points, which was the second-highest score of the night.
Corey Anderson mixes in wrestling and striking to upset Glover Teixeira
It was clear from the start that Anderson would need to score takedowns in order to win this fight. While he struggled at first, he eventually got to his wrestling and finished with seven takedowns on 19 attempts. In rounds one and three, he stayed persistent despite strong defense from Teixeira. He landed only three of nine attempts in the opening round and two of seven in the final round. Not only did the takedowns allow Anderson to control where the fight takes place, but they also disrupted the striking strategy of Teixeira. Despite having a skill disadvantage in terms of striking, Anderson ended up winning the significant striking battle at distance 31 to 17.
A diverse offensive performance can end up being more rewarding from a DFS perspective. Despite going to decision, Anderson earned players 110 points, which was the third-highest score on the card. In addition to his seven takedowns, Anderson also scored with seven passes and 48 significant strikes.
Abu Azaitar comes out on top in scramblefest against Vitor Miranda
Both fighters had their moments on the ground in this fight, but neither was really able to control position when it mattered most. At distance, Azaitar was the harder and more active striker, outlanding Miranda 30 to 12 in terms of significant strikes. Both fighters were active in the clinch and on the ground. However, they both had trouble generating meaningful strikes in those positions. They combined to landed 197 total strikes but only 67 were significant.
The inability to generate significant strikes really held down Azaitar's DraftKings score. He finished with 70 points, which was the third-lowest score among winners on the night.
Marcin Tybura vs. Stefan Struve was a tale of two fights
On the feet, this was Struve's fight. At distance, he outlanded Tybura 27 to 19 in terms of significant strikes and appeared to hurt his opponent in the second round. However, Tybura was able to land five of seven takedowns. On the ground, it was a different fight. Tybura landed 22 significant ground strikes and absorbed only one in the 15-minute fight.
Tybura's five takedowns contributed to an 84.5 DraftKings score. He also scored points via 41 significant strikes and three passes.
Danny Roberts uses unlikely ground attack to defeat David Zawada
Zawada seemed determined to take this fight to the ground. He attempted five takedowns and landed two. However, Roberts ended up having the edge in terms of ground striking. He outlanded Zawada 30 to five in terms of significant strikes on the ground. Despite facing a former boxer, Zawada did better at distance (18 to 14) and in the clinch (10 to one). In the end, Roberts' edge on the ground proved to be too much.
Roberts has been considered a knockout threat in the past, but he was unable to approach anything like that in this fight. He finished with 64.5 points, which was the second-lowest score among winners.
Nasrat Haqparast defeats Marc Diakiese with accurate striking
Striking accuracy told the story in this fight. Diakiese attempted 220 significant strikes and only landed 50. On the other hand, Haqparast attempted 198 and landed 93. Diakiese appeared to use a lot of his strikes as range finders, while Haqparast was striking with a purpose. While Diakiese landed 22 percent overall, his accuracy on head strikes was even worse. He landed just 28 of 194, or 14 percent.
