By the Numbers: UFC on ESPN 43

Cory Sandhagen was simply too well-rounded for Marlon Vera.

The Elevation Fight Team member blended takedowns with movement and versatile striking to capture a split-decision triumph against Vera in the UFC on ESPN 43 headliner at the AT&T Center in San Antonio on Saturday night. Though Vera did better as the fight progressed, it wasn’t nearly as close as the scorecards might have indicated. By most accounts, it was a clear-cut victory for Sandhagen, who has won two straight outings after falling to Petr Yan and T.J. Dillashaw in his last two appearances of 2021. Vera, meanwhile, saw the momentum of a four-bout winning streak come to a screeching halt in the Lone Star State.

Here is a by-the-numbers look at UFC on ESPN 43, with statistics courtesy of UFCStats.com.

128: Significant strikes landed by Sandhagen. By comparison, Vera landed 58. Sandhagen outlanded his opponent 32 to 5 in Round 1, 18 to 6 in Round 2, 32 to 20 in Round 3, 24 to 13 in Round 4 and 22 to 14 in Round 5. He also outlanded Vera by a 187 to 73 count in total strikes.

377: Total strikes attempted by Sandhagen. That’s more than twice as many as Vera (177), who struggled to find the range against his versatile opponent.

0: Unofficial media scorecards, of the 24 tracked by MMADecisions.com, that scored the fight for Vera. However, judge Joel Ojeda submitted a baffling 48-47 tally in favor of “Chito.”

3: Takedowns landed in 12 attempts for Sandhagen, a UFC career high for the former interim title challenger. Sandhagen also secured 7:08 of Octagon control time compared to nine seconds for his opponent.

9:49: Total control time for Holly Holm in a dominant three-round verdict over Yana Santos in the bantamweight co-main event. “The Preacher’s Daughter” also landed four of six takedown attempts in victory. Santos, meanwhile, logged just 1:19 of control time and did not attempt a takedown in the bout.

7: Bantamweight victories in the UFC for Holm, tying her with four others for the third most in promotion history. Only Amanda Nunes (12) and Raquel Pennington (11) have won more at 135 pounds.

32: Significant strikes landed by Holm. Kunitskaya, meanwhile, landed 21. The Russian bantamweight did hold a 120-to-105 edge in total strikes landed, however.

6: Victories at 125 pounds for Maycee Barber, tying her with Jennifer Maia, Molly McCann and Joanne Wood for fifth most in UFC flyweight history. Only Valentina Shevchenko (nine), Katlyn Chookagian (nine), Gillian Robertson (eight) and Lauren Murphy (seven) have won more. Barber took a contentious split decision over Andrea Lee at UFC on ESPN 43.

5: Takedowns landed in five attempts for Lee, a career best in 10 UFC appearances. Lee also logged 5:20 of control time compared to just 45 seconds for her opponent.

31: Significant head strikes for Barber. By comparison, Lee landed 10. Overall, Barber held a 48-to-39 advantage in significant strikes landed.

4: Submissions in UFC competition for Daniel Pineda at featherweight, tying him with Makwan Amirkhani and Chas Skelly for the second most in the history of the division. Charles Oliveira is No. 1 with six. Pineda tapped out Tucker Lutz 2:50 into Round 2 of their encounter on Saturday.

28: Finishes among 28 professional wins for Pineda, who has not gone the distance in victory since beginning his professional career in 2007.

.530: Significant striking accuracy for Lucas Alexander in a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph over Steven Peterson at featherweight. Alexander landed 85 of 158 significant strikes in an impressive performance. Peterson, meanwhile, connected on just 26 of 101 attempts — a 25 percent success rate.

2: Knockdowns landed for Daniel da Silva in the opening round of his flyweight clash with C.J. Vergara. Da Silva also held a 44-to-20 edge in signficant strikes landed in the period.

59: Significant strike advantage for Vergara in Round 2, when he authored a complete turnaround to earn a technical knockout victory at the 4:04 mark. That included a 49-to-0 edge in signifcant ground strikes landed.

0-4: UFC record for da Silva, who has been finished inside of two rounds in all four of his promotional appearances.

22: Takedowns attempted by Victor Altamirano in a unanimous decision triumph over Vinicius Salvador at flyweight. Altamirano landed just three of those attempts, but that, along with 5:04 of control time and a 60-to-47 edge in significant strikes landed, was enough to earn the nod for “El Magnifico.”