By the Numbers: UFC on ESPN 51

After a year away due to a health scare, Vicente Luque enjoyed a successful return to the Octagon on Saturday night.

Luque displayed a different skill set in the UFC on ESPN 51 headliner, as he relied on clinch work and takedowns to propel him past Rafael dos Anjos via unanimous decision in their welterweight bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. That snaps a two-bout skid for “The Silent Assassin,” who had to be cleared to compete after suffering a brain hemorrhage in a knockout loss to Geoff Neal.

Here is a by-the-numbers look at UFC on ESPN 51, with statistics courtesy of UFCStats.com.

8: Takedowns landed in 12 attempts for Luque, a career high in 20 UFC appearances. His previous best of four came in a victory over Alvaro Herrera at UFC Fight Night 90 on July 7, 2016. Dos Anjos landed two of seven takedowns in defeat.

12:01: Total control time for Luque. By comparison, dos Anjos had 3:54 total control time.

72: Significant strikes landed by Luque. Dos Anjos, meanwhile, landed 66. Luque held a 60-to-38 edge in significant strikes landed at distance, while dos Anjos held a 26-to-8 advantage in the clinch.

12: UFC main appearances for dos Anjos. The former lightweight champ is 6-6 in those bouts.

2,594: Total strikes landed by Dos Anjos in his career. He is the third fighter in UFC history with more than 2,500 total strikes, joining Max Holloway (3,366) and Georges St. Pierre (2,591). Dos Anjos landed 94 total strikes on Saturday night.

4-5: Career record at 170 pounds for dos Anjos, who returned to the division for the first time since January 2020. The former lightweight king won his first three welterweight bouts in the UFC but has since gone 1-5.

7: First-round finishes at UFC on ESPN 51, tying eight other events — most recently UFC 281 — for the modern record. Six of those first-round stoppages occurred on the preliminary card.

14: Featherweight victories for Cub Swanson, third most in UFC history behind only Max Holloway (19) and Darren Elkins (16). Swanson captured a contentious unanimous verdict against Hakeem Dawodu in the co-main event.

11: Unofficial media scorecards, of the 13 tracked by MMADecisions.com, that awarded the bout to Dawodu. However, all three cageside judges submitted 29-28 tallies in favor of Swanson.

95: Significant strikes for Dawodu. By comparison, Swanson landed 76. Dawodu outlanded his opponent 29 to 23 in Round 1, 29 to 28 in Round 2 and 37 to 26 in Round 3. Dawodu also held a 129-to-107 edge in total strikes landed.

4: Consecutive light heavyweight victories for Khalil Rountree — three inside the distance — following his first-round stoppage of Chris Daukaus on Saturday night.

6: Knockdowns landed by Daukaus in his first four Octagon appearances, all of which resulted in victory. Since then, Dakaus has gone 0-4 in UFC competition while suffering four knockdowns. The former Philadelphia police officer has been finished in all of those defeats.

66: Combined leg kicks landed by A.J. Dobson (36) and Tafon Nchukwi (30) in their middleweight bout. That figure was more than half of the total significant strikes (120) landed by the combatants in the three-round affair, which Dobson won via unanimous decision.

9: Nine knockdowns suffered in four UFC appearances for J.P. Buys after winning his second outing on Dana White’s Contender Series. Marcus McGhee was the latest to victimize Buys with a one-punch knockout 2:19 into the opening round of their bantamweight bout. Not surprisingly, Buys is 0-4 in those contests.

Related » UFC on ESPN 51 Round-by-Round Scoring

30: Significant strikes landed by Terrance McKinney in a technical knockout victory over Mike Breeden that ended at the 1:25 mark of Round 1. By comparison, Breeden landed just one.

28: Days since McKinney’s last promotional appearance, a second-round submission loss to Nazim Sadykhov at UFC on ESPN 49 on July 15.

4:48: Time of Isaac Dulgarian’s first-round stoppage victory against Francis Marshall in their featherweight bout. That checks in as the longest fight in the Octagon newcomer’s professional career. Prior to UFC on ESPN 51, Dulgarian’s longest bout occurred at Fighting Alliance Championship 11, when he submitted Ray Ostrander 2:49 into Round 1.

4: Consecutive victories for Martin Buday, who submitted Josh Parisian with a kimura 4:11 into the opening frame of their heavyweight clash. That’s the second longest active winning streak in the division behind only Sergei Pavlovich (six). The 31-year-old Slovakian has won 12 straight professional outings overall.

80: Significant strikes by which Jaqueline Amorim outlanded Montserrat Ruiz in a third-round technical knockout victory at strawweight. Amorim outlanded her foe 30 to 1 in Round 1, 43 to 2 in Round 2 and 13 to 3 in Round 3 before the bout was halted at the 3:41 mark of the final stanza. Amorim also attempted four submissions, held a 141-to-20 edge in total strikes and logged 8:05 of total control time.

3: Twister submission finishes in UFC history. Da’Mon Blackshear joined a group that includes Chan Sung Jung and Bryce Mitchell when he used the maneuver to tap Jose Johnson 3:47 into the opening round of their bantamweight scrap.

63: Significant strikes landed by Luana Santos in a first-round technical knockout victory over Juliana Miller at flyweight. Santos landed at a 60% clip before the bout was halted at the 3:41 mark of Round 1. Miller, meanwhile, landed 24 of 75 significant strikes — a 32% success rate.