By the Numbers: Antonio Carlos Jr. vs. Ian Heinisch

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Ian Heinisch made heads turn in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut by outperforming crafty veteran Cezar Ferreira. He will look to keep the fire burning when he faces submission specialist Antonio Carlos Jr., who will be coming back from an injury. Let the numbers below be your primer for this upcoming middleweight tussle.

UFC appearances

Carlos only had three professional fights when he joined and won The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 to earn a six-figure contract. His season-winning performance against Vitor Miranda was his first official UFC bout. In total, Carlos has appeared inside the Octagon 10 times, amassing a record of 7-2, with one no contest.

Heinisch is only approaching his second UFC fight after an impressive debut in which he decisioned Ferreira. Prior to that, however, the Factory X representative knocked out Justin Sumter in devastating fashion at Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series.

Wins by knockout

Heinisch has won three of his last four fights by KO or TKO. He started his professional career with a first-round knockout of Dante Florez but wouldn’t knock anyone out until nine fights later. As if he was rediscovering his power, he starched Daniel Madrid and Gabriel Checco at Legacy Fighting Alliance last year before doing the same to Sumter. Meanwhile, Carlos has yet to notch his first victory by knockout.

Wins by submission

Leave it to a high-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt like Carlos to masterfully use his strengths inside the cage. The man they call “Cara de Sapato” has so far garnered eight wins by submission, five of which were in the UFC. Against Heinisch, he will look to take his fourth consecutive win by submission, following his stoppages of Eric Spicely, Jack Marshman and Tim Boetsch.

Meanwhile, the heavy-hitting Heinisch has picked up two victories by submission, both of which he did before getting signed by the UFC.

Takedown accuracy

With an 80 percent takedown accuracy to add to his string of submissions, Carlos clearly owns the grappling department. He has scored 26 takedowns after 10 UFC bouts. His most in a single fight was seven, which he did against Leonardo Augusto Leleco.

On his promotional debut, Heinisch actively hunted takedowns, attempting seven but only landing one, making for a lowly 14 percent takedown accuracy.

Striking accuracy

Heinisch landed 55 out of the 95 significant strikes he threw in his maiden UFC bout, making for a 58 percent striking accuracy. This is higher than Carlos, who has landed a total 219 significant strikes in 10 UFC appearances, making for a 42 percent striking accuracy.

Career losses

Heinisch will enter his 13th career fight with only one defeat, and that’s to Markus Perez in the main event of LFA 22. He succumbed to a rear-naked choke at the 2:14 mark of the first round. The slightly taller Carlos has suffered two setbacks in his professional career. He was decisioned by Patrick Cummins at UFC Fight Night 58 and TKO’d by Daniel Kelly at UFC Fight Night 85.