This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
UFC fans who were interested in waking up before the sunrise were treated to an event that lacked an abundance of big names but came through in terms of finishes. The winners on the card averaged 94 DraftKings points. Three fighters finished with scores that placed them in the top-20 for the year, led by Ulka Sasaki, who earned 134.5 points. The highest possible scoring team, composed of Jessica Eye, Petr Yan, Song Yadong, Shane Young, Yan Xiaonan and Sasaki, earned 643.5 points.
In the main event, Leon Edwards picked up the biggest win of his career. He turned back a comeback bid from former title challenger Donald Cerrone. 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.
Leon Edwards stays ahead of Donald Cerrone for five rounds
Edwards did more than enough to defeat Cerrone, but there was still concern on his face as the scorecards were being read. He outlanded Cerrone 84 to 60 on significant strikes overall, and he outlanded the veteran in all five rounds. His biggest advantage came in terms of head strikes. He landed 37 significant head strikes while absorbing only 17 from Cerrone.
While always earning his pay as a striker, Cerrone has been able to go to his wrestling to change the pace of a fight. Unfortunately, that was not a luxury for "Cowboy" in this fight. He failed on his first eight takedown attempts before finally coming through in the last round. While Edwards had trouble with wrestling in his early UFC career, he was up to the challenge here.
Edwards scored only 72 DraftKings points. Unfortunately, the game does not reward playing it close against a dangerous veteran. Five-round main events usually make fighters more desirable for DFS due to the extra time, but this fight was fought at a slow pace that did not lead to big points.
Ovince Saint Preux's quick submission over Tyson Pedro shows potential trend
Saint Preux does not really have the reputation of a submission threat. However, on Saturday he picked up his third first-round submission finish. In those fights, he appears to have been laser focused on the submission as he has landed only eight combined significant strikes and seven came against Pedro.
Pedro had some early success, but it evaporated early. He finished with the lowest DraftKings score for someone who scored a knockdown this year. OSP finished so quickly that he did not have time to rack up points. He put up 93.5 points, which was the seventh highest score of the night.
Jessica Eye continues hot start at flyweight against Jessica-Rose Clark
Clark got out to a good start with her striking. She edged Eye 18 to 17 on significant strikes in the opening frame. However, Eye came back in the final two rounds and outlanded Clark 50 to 33. Following her previous victory over Kalindra Faria, Eye said that she was going to use a more wrestling-based approach to sway judges. That was not really the case here until the end. She did not attempt a single takedown in the final round. However, the one that she landed in the third round may have helped her seal the decision.
Eye earned 74.5 DraftKings points based on 67 significant strikes, two passes and a takedown. She was the only main card fighter to be a part of the highest possible scoring lineup.
Li Jingliang shows improved striking against Daichi Abe
Jingliang put on an impressive striking performance against Abe. He ended up outlanding him on significant strikes 96 to 45. While he clearly had success landing significant strikes, he also impressed with his defense. Abe landed only 29 percent of his significant strike attempts in the 15-minute fight. One of the ways Jingliang controlled distance against his opponent was with his leg kicks. 51 of his 96 significant strikes were leg kicks, and the low strikes clearly had an effect on Abe.
Unfortunately, the dominance of the victory did not come across in terms of the DraftKings score. "The Leech" finished with only 78 points. While Jingliang seems to be developing a style that will lead him to wins, it may not bring him finishes, which will keep his scores lower than DFS players would like.
