By the Numbers: UFC 145
Jon Jones may not have gotten the knockout he desired against Rashad Evans at UFC 145, but he did demonstrate his ability to defend his title for five rounds. For 25 minutes, the man known as “Bones” befuddled his former training partner by controlling the distance and landing his usual array of creative punches, kicks and elbows.
With a victory over yet another former UFC champion on his resume, Jones’ legacy continues to grow. Dan Henderson is likely next for the New York native, but it remains to be seen if “Hendo” can solve the vexing puzzle that is the promotion’s current light heavyweight king. While Jones’ performances are certainly impressive to the naked eye, they can appear to be even more dominant on paper. Here is a by-the-numbers look at UFC 145, with statistics courtesy of FightMetric.com.
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28: Total strikes by which Jones outlanded Evans in the fifth round, his largest advantage in any round. The Endicott, N.Y., native landed more strikes than his former training partner in every frame.
11: Difference in total strikes landed by Evans in
rounds one (11) and two (19) combined than in rounds three (9),
four (7) and five (3) combined.
77: Total head strikes landed by Jones; the 24-year-old went 45 for 80 on jabs and 32 for 85 on power strikes to the head. By comparison, Evans landed just 18 head strikes in the fight.
3: Total ground strikes landed in the 25-minute championship fight -- all three were from Jones -- as nearly all of the action was contested on the feet.
3: Consecutive successful title defenses for Jones, as many as reigning featherweight champ Jose Aldo and former lightweight champions B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar. Anderson Silva holds the promotional record with nine straight title defenses.
11: UFC fighters who are undefeated in championship bouts. With his win over Evans, Jones moved to 4-0 in title fights -- only Anderson Silva (10-0) and Frank Shamrock (5-0) have done better with a belt on the line.
48: Total takedowns for Rashad Evans coming into UFC 145, tying him with Clay Guida for sixth place on the promotion’s all-time list.
Rashad
Evans File Photo
Evans failed to get a takedown.
51: Percentage of significant strikes successfully defended by Evans on Saturday night, well off his career rate of nearly 67 percent.
2.38: Strikes per minute by which Jones outlands his opponents. His significant strike differential is good for No. 5 all-time in the UFC.
0: Submissions attempted by Evans during a 15-fight UFC tenure. The last victory via tapout for “Suga” came in 2004, before he joined the Las Vegas-based promotion.
399: Days since Evans officially announced in an interview with MMA Fighting that he was leaving Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts in Albuquerque, N.M. Evans joined the renowned camp not long after
winning Season 2 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
41: Significant strikes by which Rory MacDonald outlanded Che Mills en route to earning a stoppage at the 2:20 mark of round two in their welterweight bout. It was the first appearance by “Ares” since he defeated Mike Pyle at UFC 133 this past August.
8:04: Total cage time for Brendan Schaub during his three first-round knockout defeats. The “TUF 10” alumnus fell victim to a counter left hook from Ben Rothwell at 1:10 of the opening frame on Saturday. Previously, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira defeated Schaub in 3:09 at UFC 134, and Roy Nelson topped “The Hybrid” at the 3:45 mark of round one in the “TUF 10” Finale.
9 years, 2 months, 12 days: Age of Michael McDonald at the time of Miguel Torres’ first professional fight. The former WEC bantamweight champion earned a 10-second TKO of Larry Pulliam at Finke’s Full Contact Challenge in Highland, Ind., on March 27, 2000. McDonald is currently the second-youngest fighter on the UFC roster.
3-4: Record for Torres since his five-round 135-pound title defense against Takeya Mizugaki at WEC 40. McDonald finished the 31-year-old Torres with strikes at 3:18 of the opening period, the fastest defeat of Torres’ 45-fight career.
216: Combined strikes landed by Mark Hominick and Eddie Yagin in their featherweight clash. Yagin, who came away with a split-decision triumph, landed 26 less significant strikes than his Canadian opponent, but was able to sway the judges on the strength of knockdowns in rounds one and two.
39: Significant strikes advantage for Mark Bocek in the opening round of his unanimous decision triumph over John Alessio in their lightweight bout.
9: Wins inside of a round for Travis Browne, who submitted Strikeforce veteran Chad Griggs with an arm-triangle choke at 2:29 of the opening frame in the heavyweight contest. Six of the Hawaiian’s first-round triumphs have come in less than a minute.
.470: Significant striking accuracy for Matt Brown in his unanimous decision win over Steven Thompson, well off his normal rate of 57 percent. Thompson outlanded Brown 67 to 36 in significant strikes, but “The Ultimate Fighter 7” alumnus secured five takedowns and controlled nearly all the action on the mat.
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