UFC on ESPN 65 post-event facts: Torrez Finney sets dubious record for low striking output
Although there were some historic feats on the undercards, the most meaningful result came from the main event. Featherweight contender Lerone Murphy (16-0-1 MMA, 8-0-1 UFC) kept his undefeated record in tact when he outpointed Josh Emmett (19-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) by unanimous decision.
For more on the numbers to come out of the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie's post-event facts from UFC on ESPN 65.
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24 minutes ago
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Khamzat Chimaev's dominance by the numbers: How UFC 319 main event stats tell the story of new champ's success
Khamzat Chimaev took the UFC middleweight title from Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319 with a performance so effortlessly dominant that simply calling it a victory via unanimous decision doesn't quite say it. Even looking at the judges' scorecards fails to capture how lopsided the fight was. All three judges had it 50-44 in favor of the new champ Chimaev, but all three also awarded him a 10-8 score only in the third round, when he could have arguably notched that score in almost any round of the fight. To really see what was going on in this fight, you might need to look at some of the other numbers to come out of the UFC 319 main event. 131-3: That's the strike tally for both fighters at the end of the first round. Chimaev landed 131 of the 137 strikes he threw in the opening frame, for an eye-opening 95.6% accuracy rate. Du Plessis landed exactly three. Then again, he is credited with having attempted only three, so at least he connected with 100% of them. But what's also telling is the significant strike totals from that round. Of Chimaev's 137 strikes attempts, only two were classified as significant strike attempts according to the official stats. That's because most of the round saw Chimaev on top, flattening du Plessis out in a crucifix position while peppering his head with short punches that seemed more aggravating than damaging. Du Plessis was credited with zero significant strike attempts in the opening round. 21:40: That's Chimaev's total control time in the fight. At the risk of tremendous understatement, that's an uncommon figure in a 25-minute fight. Du Plessis is listed as having been in control for a total of just 53 seconds, and all of that came in the final round. Du Plessis is not credited with a single second of control time throughout the first four rounds of the fight. Of course, Chimaev's control time dropped significantly in that final frame. He controlled well over four of the five minutes in every round except the fifth. 12: That's the total number of takedowns logged by Chimaev on 17 total attempts. What's really telling is that DDP didn't successfully stop a single takedown until Round 4. In that third frame, the one the judges all had as the lone 10-8 round, Chimaev went 3-for-3 on takedowns. By the fifth — by far DDP's best round by every metric — that figure had dropped to 3 for 6. 567: That's the total number of strikes Chimaev threw in the fight, giving him an average of 113.4 strikes per round. But of those, just 8.2% were listed as significant strike attempts. This might help explain some of the blowback Chimaev has received from fans and fellow fighters in the wake of such a dominant victory. While all the numbers show that he steamrolled du Plessis in every facet of the fight, he never seemed to go all out in search of a finish. 1: That's the number of submission attempts in the fight, at least according to the statisticians. And it's not Chimaev who was given credit for attempting that submission, even though he did briefly threaten with a choke at one point. Instead it's du Plessis who logged it with his rear-naked choke attempt in the final minute of the fight. Chimaev fought it off, but here again is another indicator of why some might view Chimaev as insufficiently interested in finishing the fight. He controlled the majority of every round, outstruck du Plessis 529-45, but never committed to a submission attempt (at least in the eyes of the record-keepers.) 1: That's the total number of leg kicks landed by du Plessis. By contrast, he landed 52 leg kicks in his last fight against Sean Strickland. The fight before that, against Israel Adesanya, he landed 22 of 29 leg kick attempts. His previous low in the UFC was eight leg kicks against Derek Brunson, a fighter he knocked out in two rounds. Here, he didn't even attempt a leg kick until the final round. That's a pretty good indicator of how Chimaev's wrestling-heavy game forced DDP to change his usual approach — and without success.
USA Today
an hour ago
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Anthony Hernandez saw enough of Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319: 'I'll drown him'
Anthony Hernandez got an up-close and personal look at the middleweight division's new kingpin, and it didn't take him long to decide he has what it takes to upend the throne. Hernandez is just a week removed from an utterly dominant main event win over Roman Dolidze at UFC on ESPN 72. The performance he put on was so impressive in Las Vegas that he was in Chicago on Saturday for UFC 319, though not officially as a backup fighter for the middleweight title main event. Still Hernandez (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) was asked for his official thoughts on Khamzat Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) and his unanimous decision win over Dricus Du Plessis (23-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) to take the title in the main event. Chimaev, roughly a 3-1 favorite in the fight, landed 12 takedowns against the champ that led to a total of nearly 22 minutes of control time. And though the strikes he landed never were of major consequence to Du Plessis, he landed more than 500 total strikes, mostly short shots on the canvas, at nearly 93 percent total accuracy. But Hernandez told ESPN he's got the formula to make Chimaev's reign one and done. "Congratulations to him. It was a f*cking pretty boring fight – I'm not going to lie," Hernandez said. "But call me for the (next title) fight. I can wrestle, I can do jiu-jitsu, I can stop all the sh*t, and I can shut him down. With my gas tank, I'll drown him, man – I promise. I'll make him f*cking work. "So call me – keep me in mind, guys, and I think you'll have a new f*cking Mexican-American champion." Hernandez has won eight straight fights. Six of them have been stoppages, including four for post-fight bonus awards. In the past 18 months, he has bonus-winning finishes of Roman Kopylov, Michel Pereira and Dolidze, plus a decision over Brendan Allen. The Pereira and Dolidze wins came in UFC main events. Chimaev said earlier in UFC 319 fight week that if he won the belt, it would be likely he'd want to fight on the UFC's return to Abu Dhabi in October.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Khamzat Chimaev reveals what he was saying to Dricus Du Plessis mid-fight at UFC 319
CHICAGO – Khamzat Chimaev beat Dricus Du Plessis soundly at UFC 319 on Saturday, and he wasn't afraid to let him know as he was doing it. Following his title-clinching victory at United Center, Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) what it was exactly that he told Du Plessis (23-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) as he cruised to a unanimous decision victory. "I was working on him," Chimaev told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. "I had some cool time on there. I spoke with him. I spoke with his coach in the middle of the fight. I was happy. ... I said, 'Good job. Work harder, guys.'" A man of few words, Chimaev didn't offer up much preference as to what his first move as UFC middleweight champion will be. He declined to speculate who his next opponent will be, and said he'd fight whenever the UFC came calling with a paycheck. One thing Chimaev did elaborate on, however, was the idea that his stock may have risen in the public's eye. Many analysts speculated cardio could be an issue for Chimaev as he'd never been into the championship rounds and had slowed in a few previous fights. However, Chimaev maintained a high pace over the course of 25 minutes and put forth one of the most lopsided UFC title fights ever. "I don't care what people think about me doing my thing," Chimaev said. "How many strikes did I land on him? How many takedowns did I have in there? I didn't gas out, so now they know."
