UFC 189 Data Dump: Key Statistics from McGregor vs. Mendes Fight Card Results

Whew. That was pretty crazy. I feel like everyone says this after every big UFC card, but 24 hours later I'm still perfectly comfortable describing UFC 189 as a true classic.

After a fairly slow preliminary slate, things kicked into high gear. The top headline is certainly Conor McGregor's stirring knockout of Chad Mendes to win the interim featherweight title. A star-making turn, no doubt. 

But the best fight of the evening happened in the co-main event, when Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald beat on each other with meteoric levels of skill and violence. Finally, a bloodied Lawler finished a very bloody, very hurt and very tough MacDonald with a TKO in the fifth and final round. 

And the greatness didn't end there. It was a night of elite action and genuine emotion. 

Now that we've all had a day to process what we saw, what are some key stats and figures that best illustrate what happened? In our new Data Dump series, we're going to do just that. Get ready to crunch some numbers. Well, you just have to read. They've already been crunched. Whatever, you knew what I meant.

The Irish BC (Before Conor)

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

We're all living in Conor's world now. So I guess that means we're all living in Ireland? That'd be fine.

It's easy to forget that just about two years ago, the Irish were a non-entity on the MMA landscape. Before McGregor made his UFC debut, Irish fighters were a whopping 0-1 in the UFC Octagon. That one was Tom Egan, who dropped his first and only UFC bout to John Hathaway back in 2009. 

Now? Well, it's quite a bit better here. Several Irish fighters, including Paddy Holohan, Neil Seery, Cathal Pendred and others, have a hand in that. But McGregor led the pack and kicked in the door, handing Ireland its first UFC win, and now its first UFC strap.

"I decided that I'm just going to prove to people that I'm a true fighter," McGregor said after the fight.

Chad Mendes Grabs a Dubious Title-Fight Record

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Let's get the disclaimer out of the way: Chad Mendes is very good at fighting. You don't get to three UFC title fights in the course of your career unless you're really, really freaking good.

Extra respect to Mendes for taking this title fight with McGregor on short notice. Would he have done better (or at least had deeper cardio) with a full camp? Darn right.

Nevertheless, after falling to McGregor last night, Mendes became the perhaps-not-so-proud part-owner of a  UFC record. After UFC 189, Mendes is now 0-3 in UFC title fights. According to Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie, Mendes is only the fifth fighter ever to reach that point.

But wait! Mendes offered some important quotes here. I offer them now here, courtesy of Tristen Critchfield of Sherdog. 

"

I took a risk, I went for the submission. I probably should have stayed there and kept throwing elbows. I’m trying to finish the fight. That’s a risk you take and that’s the fight game.

"

Bermudez vs. Stephens: 8

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Great work by Jeremy Stephens here.

They don't keep official records on knockdowns, but for a three-round fight, this is a high number.

I watched this fight three times, and this was the number that I came up with, at least if you're counting the striking-related knockdowns. The big knee from Stephens finished it, and if it wasn't for the epic nature of this card, this would be on everyone's lips as the fight of the year.

But don't take my word for it here. Take the word of this chunk of third-party analysis from another analyst, who, in this case, takes the form of Steven Marrocco of MMA Junkie. 

"

Stephens’ finishing blow was delivered as a counter, as were most of his significant strikes. In the second frame, he sent Bermudez to the canvas with a hook and might have secured a finish had Bermudez not been able to slow down the action with wrestling.

"

From there, Stephens finished here. Awesome work. I just hope everyone has a respect for it.

Gunnar Nelson Strikes

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

According to official UFC statistics keeper FightMetric, Gunnar Nelson outlanded Brandon Thatch in the striking phase. That was quite unexpected. 

Thatch, who was thought to be the better striker, according to analysts, landed eight of 14 significant strikes, according to the FightMetric data.

Nelson, according to the same data source, landed six of eight strikes.

I don't know. The really smart people who check this out can tell me whether the stats are correct, but for a random writer, that feels like a clear difference.