By the Numbers: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Kevin Lee

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Former top lightweights Rafael dos Anjos and Kevin Lee will meet at 170 pounds for UFC Fight Night 152. Dos Anjos has fought at welterweight before, but for Lee, this will be his debut. Both are coming off losses and should be eager to bounce back. Let the numbers below give you a glimpse of who might have the upper hand come fight day.

Wins by submission

Primarily a grappler when he started his pro career, dos Anjos went 10-2, with six of those victories coming by submission. He was signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship after notching his 11th career victory, and continued hunting for submissions. He would add three more to make it nine tapout wins in total: an arm-triangle choke of Neil Magny, a rear-naked choke of Kamal Shalorus, and an armbar of Terry Etim that earned for himself a Submission of the Night bonus.

Lee is another fighter who started his career tapping out one opponent after another. He went undefeated in his first seven fights, securing four submissions along the way. The last one, a standing guillotine choke of Eric Moon, afforded him the Total Warrior Combat lightweight title. Lee gathered four more submission wins in the UFC, and these were against James Moontasri, Magomed Mustafaev, Francisco Trinaldo and Michael Chiesa.

Wins by knockout

Dos Anjos’ third career victory came via TKO following a doctor stoppage. But after that, he never scored another knockout until his one punch KO of George Sotiropoulos at UFC 132. He would soon make huge strides with his striking. From June 2014 to December 2015, dos Anjos notably went on a five-fight winning streak, with three of those wins coming by TKO against Jason High, Benson Henderson and Donald Cerrone.

Lee may not have as many knockouts as dos Anjos, but he did score one on a dangerous young Aussie in Jake Matthews while his TKO win over perennial contender Edson Barboza was due to a doctor stoppage.

UFC losses

The more experienced fighter of the two, dos Anjos has suffered nine losses inside the Octagon. These were to Jeremy Stephens, Tyson Griffin, Clay Guida, Gleison Tibau, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Eddie Alvarez, Tony Ferguson, Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman. As for Lee, all four of his defeats came inside the Octagon, no thanks to Tony Ferguson, Leonardo Santos and Al Iaquinta twice.

Common opponent: Tony Ferguson

Dos Anjos met the former interim lightweight champion in an action-packed five-round war at The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 3 finale. Back then, dos Anjos had just lost his lightweight title to Eddie Alvarez and was looking to bounce back. Unfortunately, a bruised and bloodied dos Anjos was outclassed by Ferguson who won via unanimous decision. According to Fightmetric, Ferguson led 199-121 in significant strikes landed.

Lee made a good account of himself in his UFC 216 interim lightweight title bout opposite Ferguson. Both fighters started strong, trading punches and doing damage at some point. The first round ended with Lee mounted on his higher ranked opponent and landing some heavy shots. In round two, Ferguson began to find his range, connecting punches and kicks, and in the third, he stopped Lee with a rear-naked choke. Fightmetric accounts show Lee was slightly ahead in significant strikes landed with a 55-54 advantage, with three takedowns to boot.