Michael Bisping stopped Jason “Mayhem” Miller in the third round. | File Photo: Sherdog.com
For just the second time since “The Ultimate Fighter” began in 2005, the UFC offered its coach-versus-coach bout on free television Saturday night. The first time it happened, B.J. Penn dominated Jens Pulver at “The Ultimate Fighter 5” finale in 2007 en route to a second-round submission victory.
Of course it wasn't all about the coaches, as the UFC crowned John Dodson and Diego Brandao as "Ultimate Fighter" winners in the show's final season on Spike. While sentimentality can certainly be fun, it's time to take a cold, calculating look at "The Ultimate Fighter 14" finale by the numbers. Statistics are provided by FightMetric.com.
75: Significant strikes by which Bisping outlanded Miller over the course of their bout. Miller connected with 17 power strikes in the opening frame, a round he won on the judges’ scorecards, but landed just 10 more thereafter.
16: Difference between Bisping's career high in significant strikes landed (118) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 120 and the number of significant strikes landed versus Miller (102) on Saturday, his second best total.
746: Significant strikes landed in Bisping's UFC career, ranking him fourth on the promotion's all-time list behind Georges St. Pierre, B.J. Penn and Chris Lytle.
4.75: Number of significant strikes per minute for Bisping during his Octagon tenure. That's good for eighth-best among UFC fighters.
2.37: Strike differential for Bisping, yet another number which places him in the UFC's top 10, this time at No. 6, just behind light heavyweight king Jon Jones.
.678: Rate at which Bisping successfully connected with jabs to the head of Miller. Known for his sound boxing and defensive skill, "The Count" clearly became more comfortable as the bout wore on, increasing the number of jabs he landed in each round.
.125: Overall striking accuracy for Miller in round two, his least effective frame in what was a difficult night overall in that area.
1,828: Days since Miller's first defeat via technical knockout, when Frank Trigg stopped him in the second round with soccer kicks at Icon Sport "Mayhem vs. Trigg" in 2006. "Mayhem" has now been finished with strikes just twice in a 31-fight career.
10: Takedowns stuffed by Bisping. Miller's lone successful takedown came in the first round, but fatigue gradually limited the effectiveness of his shots as time wore on.
.709: Career significant strike defense rate for Yves Edwards. Although he lost a unanimous decision to Tony Ferguson, the "Thugjitsu Master" was similarly stingy against the "Ultimate Fighter 13" winner, stopping approximately 74 percent of "El Cucuy's" power strikes.
9-10: Edwards record in contests that go to the judges' scorecards. It was Ferguson's first time going the distance in his young UFC career.
1: Out of a total of 106 total strikes landed by Ferguson and Edwards combined that was not deemed significant by FightMetric.com.
8: Strikes needed by John Dodson before his bantamweight bout with T.J. Dillashaw was stopped at the 1:54 mark of the opening stanza.
6: First-round victories in the career of Dodson. Including the triumph over Dillashaw, four have come via technical knockout, while two were ended by submission.
5,118: Distance in miles between Diego Brandao's home of Manaus, Brazil, and Las Vegas, where he became the "TUF 14" winner at featherweight with his armbar submission of Dennis Bermudez.
5: With Dodson and Brandao capturing Season 14 honors, the number of "Ultimate Fighter" winners with past or current ties to Jackson's MMA. Diego Sanchez, Joe Stevenson and Rashad Evans are the others, though Stevenson and Evans didn't join the camp until after the reality show.
137: Total strikes by which Johnny Bedford outlanded Louis Gaudinot in their bantamweight bout. The bigger, stronger Bedford was successful on 68 percent of his strikes as he bullied his opponent all over the cage.
10: Guard passes for Bedford, who spent much of the fight pummeling Gaudinot from top position.