The former 205-pound title challenger returned to form in the UFC Fight Night headliner on Saturday, as he submitted Ovince St. Preux with a rear-naked choke 3:10 into round three at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Other than a few harrowing moments in the opening frame, Teixeira was in complete control.
The win ended a two-fight skid for Teixeira and slowed the ascent of St. Preux, a former University of Tennessee football player who was the clear crowd favorite and tabbed as a rising star in the division. Here is a by-the-numbers look at UFC Fight Night “St. Preux vs. Teixeira” with statistics courtesy of FightMetric.com.
92: Total strikes by which Teixeira outlanded St. Preux. The Brazilian was especially dominant in rounds two and three, outlanding his foe 54 to 15 and 41 to 3 en route to securing the tapout.
1:25:36: Total Octagon time for Teixeira, who spent 13:10 in the cage on Saturday to move ahead of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (1:20:55) and into ninth place among active light heavyweights. Alexander Gustafsson is No. 8 at 1:32:04.
321: Significant strikes landed by Teixeira in his Octagon tenure, No. 8 among active UFC light heavyweights behind Gustafsson (374) and Quinton Jackson (415). Teixeira landed 53 significant strikes to move past Gian Villante (298) on Saturday.
5: Takedowns landed, in nine attempts, by Teixeira, tying his career best in eight UFC appearances. Teixeira also landed five takedowns in a win over Quinton Jackson at UFC on Fox 6. Teixeira passed guard 11 times.
15: Career takedowns landed by Teixeira, No. 5 among active UFC light heavyweights. Mauricio Rua is No. 4 with 19.
.687: Takedown defense for St.Pruex prior to UFC Fight Night, a figure which ranked No. 6 among active UFC light heavyweights.
18: Number of times St. Preux has been taken down in his last three defeats, setbacks at the hands of Teixeira (five), Ryan Bader (nine) and Gegard Mousasi (four).
84: Significant strikes landed by Michael Johnson. Beneil Dariush, meanwhile, landed 75 significant strikes. Johnson outlanded his foe 24 to 20 in round one and 35 to 22 in round two, while Dariush held a 33-to-25 edge in round three. Dariush ultimately won a contentious split decision.
0: Takedowns landed, in seven attempts by Dariush. The Kings MMA product had landed at least one takedown in his previous four fights.
49: Significant strikes to the body landed by Johnson. By comparison, Dariush landed 12.
52: Significant strikes to the head for Dariush; Johnson, meanwhile, landed 32.
47: Total strikes by which Derek Brunson outlanded Sam Alvey in their middleweight clash. The Strikeforce veteran was aggressive from the outset and put his foe away with a barrage of punches 2:19 into the opening stanza. Alvey had won his previous three fights via first-round knockout.
4: Women’s bantamweight victories for Amanda Nunes, tying her with Jessica Andrade for second most in UFC history. Nunes defeated Sara McMann via rear-naked choke at the 2:53 mark of round one on Saturday. Nunes’ four finishes are also second most among female bantamweights in the promotion.
19: Guard passes executed by Ray Borg in his unanimous decision victory over Geane Herrera in a flyweight bout. The FIT-NHB product landed all three of his takedowns and attempted two submissions in a lopsided victory.
26: Significant strikes landed by Borg, all of which were ground strikes. Herrera landed seven significant strikes, five on the ground.
3: Takedowns landed, in four attempts, by Chris Camozzi in his decision triumph over Tom Watson at middleweight. In 13 previous UFC bouts, Camozzi had failed on all 17 of his takedown attempts.
147: Total strikes by which Dustin Ortiz outlanded Willie Gates in their flyweight clash. The Tennessee native outlanded his foe 171 to 24 in total strikes and 92 to 13 in significant strikes en route to a technical knockout victory 2:58 into round three.
73: Significant ground strikes landed by Ortiz, who landed four of 13 takedown attempts and dominated Gates on the mat. Gates, meanwhile, did not land a single significant strike on the canvas.
183: Significant strikes thrown by Frankie Saenz in his split-decision triumph over Sirwan Kakai. Saenz landed 80 of those strikes, a 43 percent success rate. Kakai, meanwhile, threw in less volume but was more accurate: He landed 55 of 113 significant strikes attempted -- a 48 percent clip.
50: Seconds needed by Johnathan Wilson to knock out Chris Dempsey, making it the fourth-fastest victory for a debuting light heavyweight in UFC history. Only Ryan Jimmo (seven seconds), Alexander Gustafsson (41 seconds) and Houston Alexander (48 seconds) have had quicker victorious debuts among light heavyweights.
40: Significant strikes by which UFC debutante Scott Holtzman outlanded (71 to 31) Anthony Christodoulou in the evening’s opening bout. Holtzman, who was the biggest betting favorite on the card, finished his opponent with a rear-naked choke2:40 into the third round.
13: Number of bouts on the UFC Fight Night “St. Preux vs. Teixeira” and UFC 190 cards, making them the first back-to-back events with 13 fights since April 2014, when UFC on Fox 11 and “The Ultimate Fighter: Nations” finale each had 13.