This article is part of our Fight Stat Wrap series.
In the main event of UFC Fight Night 109, Alexander Gustafsson dominated a bout of former title challengers against Glover Teixeira. While the card was nothing to write home about in terms of marquee names, the main card ended up being rather eventful. 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.
Alexander Gustafsson leaves no doubt against Glover Teixeira
Gustafsson probably had the best performance of his career in this battle of former title challengers. In the process, he most likely leapfrogged fellow contender Jimi Manuwa for the shot at the winner of the upcoming Daniel Cormier-Jon Jones title fight. In the bout, he forced Teixeira to miss 69 percent of his significant strike attempts. The Swedish fighter also stopped four out of five takedown attempts from his opponent. His movement clearly gave Teixeira a lot of trouble. On the offensive side, Gustafsson landed 97 significant strikes and two knockdowns. His best maneuver was clearly the uppercut that he landed liberally and ultimately used to finish the fight.
Gustafsson finished with 119.5 points for DraftKings players. After a disappointing performance, fantasy wise, against Jan Blachowicz, he returned to his normal high volume striking approach. As someone who is almost always in five-round fights, he is normally a solid choice to put in a lineup. On top of that, he appeared to land harder strikes than ever before, which could portend a higher finishing rate in the future.
Volkan Oezdemir makes it 2-for-2 in the UFC against Misha Cirkunov
Oezdemir has had two fights in the UFC, and he has scored two sizeable upsets. He came into his Octagon debut against Ovince St. Peux as a +285 underdog, and he was as high as +325 against Misha Cirkunov. Against St. Preux, he showed he was a seasoned striker who could deal with someone looking for the big knockout show, and he outlanded the former title challenger 82 to 76 on significant strikes. Against Cirkunov, Oezdemir showed that he has the power to finish fights.
If the bookmakers continue to make Oezdemir a big underdog, he is almost a must play for DFS players. For this fight, he cost players only $6,900 and earned 102.5 points.
Peter Sobotta unleashed newfound power against Ben Saunders
This might have been the best performance of Sobotta's career. He showed off a level of power that he had never displayed before. Not only did her finish the fight in the second round, but he also landed three knockdowns. Prior to this fight, Sobotta had never finished a fight with strikes and had only one knockdown.
Sobotta finished with 123 DraftKings points. Those three knockdowns earned him 30 points on their own. As previously stated, he has never really been a power striker. However, he recently moved his training camp to Phuket Top Team. Perhaps the new team has unleashed his power and this is a sign of things to come.
Omari Akhmedov hands Abdul Razak Alhassan his first loss
Prior to this fight, Alhassan's longest fight had been less than two minutes long. In fact, he spent more time in the cage on Sunday than he did in his previous seven fights. He certainly landed some of his trademark power shots on Akhmedov. However, the "Wolverine" took the fight by implementing his wrestling game. He landed six takedowns in the fight and did solid work on the top. He ended up outlanding Alhassan 52 to 43 in terms of significant strikes.
The ground work certainly padded Akhmedov's DraftKings score. Thanks mostly to those six takedowns, he finished with 95 points. Alhassan clearly had an off night, but his ability to finish fights in the first round makes him at least a flyer pick against anyone in the welterweight division.
Nordine Taleb takes prospect Oliver Enkamp to school
Enkamp might one day live up to his nickname of "The Future." However, on Sunday, he struggled mightily against the veteran Taleb. The Firas Zahabi trained fighter dominated nearly the entire fight and ended up outlanding Enkamp 57 to 34 in terms of significant strikes. He also landed both of his takedowns and passed guard three times.
At this level, Taleb is a solid choice for DFS players. Against Enkamp he ended up with 82.5 points. His ability to both strike and take the fight to the ground allows for some unexpect points around the edges, such as the nine points for passes and five points for his reversal in round two.
Jack Hermansson makes quick work of Alex Nicholson
Hermansson started the main card off with a bang. He easily took down Nicholson and destroyed him on the ground. His per minute striking differential was 11, his previous best in his UFC career had been 3.4. Striking differential is significant strikes landed per minute minus significant strikes absorbed per minute. Nicholson managed to only land one significant strike in the final.
Hermansson earned players 112.5 points in DraftKings. Despite this performance, players should be hesitant about taking him in the future. He has never shown this finishing ability in the past, and Nicholson is now 1-4 in the UFC and might not be a major league caliber fighter.
