UFC Fight Night 81 pre-fight facts: Who's the better striker – Dillashaw or Cruz?

UFC Fight Night 81 opens this year’s UFC-FOX Sports 1 schedule with a historic event: Sunday’s fight card features the first title fight to air live on the network.

UFC bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw (12-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) puts his belt up for grabs against ex-champ Dominick Cruz (20-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in a highly anticipated grudge match at Boston’s TD Garden.

Dillashaw has been dominant atop the 135-pound class since winning the belt less than two years ago, but Cruz still believes he’s the rightful king of the division since he never lost the belt in competition and instead was stripped due to inactivity stemming from injuries.

Both fighters are confident going into the matchup, and judging from their career accomplishments, it’s easy to see why. Check below for the pre-fight numbers behind Dillashaw vs. Cruz as well as the 12 other UFC Fight Night 81 matchups.

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Main event

T.J. Dillashaw

Dillashaw is one of five contestants from “The Ultimate Fighter” to win a UFC belt.

Dillashaw is the only UFC champion to come from “TUF” to successfully defend his belt. Matt Serra, Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans and Carla Esparza all failed to register a title defense during their reigns.

Dillashaw competes in his 11th UFC bantamweight bout, the third most appearances in divisional history behind Urijah Faber (12) and Takeya Mizugaki (12).

Dillashaw is 8-1 in his past nine UFC appearances. The lone defeat in that stretch came to Raphael Assuncao.

Dillashaw’s four-fight UFC winning streak in bantamweight competition is tied for the second longest active streak in the division behind Assuncao (seven).

Dillashaw’s eight victories in UFC bantamweight competition are tied for the second most in divisional history behind Faber (nine).

Dillashaw’s six stoppage victories in UFC bantamweight competition are tied with Faber for most in divisional history.

Dillashaw’s five knockout victories in UFC bantamweight competition are the most in divisional history.

Dillashaw’s five knockdowns landed in UFC bantamweight competition are tied with Michael McDonald and Francisco Rivera for most in divisional history.

Dillashaw scored the latest head-kick knockout finish in UFC history when he stopped Joe Soto at the 2:20 mark of Round 5 at UFC 177.

Dillashaw is one of two fighters in UFC history to earn two fifth-round stoppage victories. He accomplished the feat against Soto at UFC 177 and Renan Barao at UFC 173. Flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson also accomplished the feat.

Dillashaw is the only fighter in UFC history to land 100 or more significant strikes in four consecutive fights. He accomplished the feat over his past four contests.

Dillashaw’s 76 significant ground strikes landed against Walel Watson at UFC on FUEL TV 1 stand as the most in a single UFC bout.

Dillashaw lands 5.81 strikes landed per minute in UFC bantamweight competition, the highest rate in UFC/WEC combined divisional history.

Dillashaw’s +3.18 strike differential rate in UFC bantamweight competition is highest margin in divisional history.

Dillashaw’s 11 submission attempts in UFC bantamweight competition are the second most in divisional history behind Alex Caceres (12).

Dillashaw has been awarded five fight-night bonuses in UFC bantamweight competition, tied with Barao and Brad Pickett for most in divisional history.

Dominick Cruz

Cruz competes for the first time since UFC 178 in September 2014. His fight with Dillashaw will mark just his second bout since October 2011.

Cruz enters the event on an 11-fight winning streak. He hasn’t suffered a loss since March 2007.

Cruz’s three-fight UFC winning streak in bantamweight competition is the fifth longest active streak in the division behind Assuncao (seven), Dillashaw (four), Thomas Almeida (four) and Aljamain Sterling (four).

Cruz’s 10 victories in UFC/WEC bantamweight competition are tied for the most in combined divisional history.

Cruz landed 243 total strikes in his WEC 53 victory over Scott Jorgensen, the most ever in a UFC/WEC bantamweight contest.

Cruz defends 76.5 percent of all opponent significant strike attempts in UFC/WEC bantamweight competition, the second highest rate in combined divisional history behind Charlie Valencia (77.8 percent).

Cruz’s 41 takedowns landed in UFC/WEC bantamweight competition are the most in combined divisional history.

Cruz defends 83.3 percent of all opponent takedown attempts in UFC/WEC bantamweight competition, the third highest rate in combined divisional history behind Barao (96.2 percent) and Eddie Wineland (86 percent).

Co-main event

Anthony Pettis

Anthony Pettis (18-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) returns to competition for the first time since he lost the UFC lightweight title to Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 185 in March.

Pettis’ three knockout victories in UFC/WEC competition stemming from a kick to the head or body are tied for second most in the combined history of the two organizations behind Vitor Belfort (four) and Donald Cerrone (four).

Pettis is one of two fighters in UFC history to earn two consecutive knockouts stemming from a kick to the head or body. Belfort is the other.

Pettis is the only fighter in UFC history to win two consecutive UFC lightweight championship bouts by submission.

Eddie Alvarez (26-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) faces a former UFC lightweight champion or title challenger for the third time in as many UFC appearances.

Remaining main card

Travis Browne

Travis Browne (17-3-1 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) has earned 15 of his 17 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished his opponent in all but one of his UFC victories.

Browne’s six first-round knockout victories in UFC heavyweight competition are tied with Cain Velasquez and Roy Nelson for second most in divisional history behind Andrei Arlovski (seven).

Browne is the only fighter in UFC history to earn two knockout victories stemming from standing elbow strikes.

Browne has earned six fight-night bonuses in UFC heavyweight competition, tied with Nelson for most in divisional history.

Browne, who stands 6-7, is the second tallest fighter on the UFC roster behind 6-11 heavyweight Stefan Struve.

Matt Mitrione (9-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC), 37, is the oldest of the 26 fighters scheduled to compete at the event.

Mitrione is the only active fighter on the UFC roster to have all of his career bouts inside the octagon.

Mitrione is 4-4 in his past eight fights after starting his UFC career on a 5-0 run.

Mitrione’s eight knockout victories in UFC heavyweight competition are tied for third most in divisional history behind Velasquez (nine) and Arlovski (nine).

Mitrione’s eight knockdowns landed in UFC heavyweight competition are tied for fourth most in divisional history behind Junior Dos Santos (12), Arlovski (10) and Velasquez (nine).

Ross Pearson

Ross Pearson (18-9 MMA, 10-6 UFC) is 5-3 with one no-contest since he returned to the UFC lightweight division in December 2012.

Pearson has alternated wins and losses over his past six UFC appearances.

Pearson’s five knockout victories in UFC lightweight competition are tied for third most in divisional history behind Melvin Guillard (seven) and B.J. Penn (six).

Pearson has out-landed his opponent in total strikes in nine of his 10 UFC victories.

Francisco Trinaldo’s (18-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) four-fight UFC winning streak in lightweight competition is tied for the fifth longest active streak in the division behind Tony Ferguson (seven), Khabib Nurmagomedov (six), Beneil Dariush (five) and dos Anjos (five).

Trinaldo is one of six fighters in UFC history to earn two arm-triangle submission victories. He’s one of only two fighters to earn the submission from half-guard.

Preliminary card

Patrick Cote

Patrick Cote (22-9 MMA, 8-9 UFC) is 4-1 since he dropped to the UFC welterweight division in March 2013.

Cote has suffered all nine of his career losses under the UFC banner.

Cote holds a 5:2 knockdown ratio in UFC competition. He’s suffered both those knockdowns in his past six UFC fights.

Cote has landed an equal or smaller number of significant strikes than his opponent in 10 his past 11 UFC bouts.

Ben Saunders (18-6-2 MMA, 6-3 UFC) is 3-0 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in August 2014.

Saunders lands 59.1 percent of his significant strike attempts in UFC welterweight competition, the highest rate in divisional history.

Saunders earned the first and only omoplata submission finish in UFC history when he defeated Chris Heatherly at UFC Fight Night 49.

Saunders’ omoplata finish was just the second in the combined history of UFC, WEC, Strikeforce and PRIDE. Shane Del Rosario was the other to accomplish the feat.

Ed Herman

Ed Herman (22-11 MMA, 9-7 UFC) moves up to the light-heavyweight division for the first time in his UFC career. He went 9-7 with one no-contest in the octagon as a middleweight.

Herman has alternated wins and losses over his past five UFC appearances.

Tim Boetsch (18-9 MMA, 9-8 UFC) returns to the UFC light heavyweight division for the first time since May 2011. He went 7-5 in the octagon as a middleweight.

Boetsch enters the event with just two victories in his past seven UFC appearances.

Maximo Blanco (12-6-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC) enters the event on a three-fight winning streak, his longest since 2010.

Daron Cruickshank (16-7 MMA, 6-5 UFC) enters the event with just one victory in his past five UFC appearances.

Cruickshank is one of five fighters in UFC history to earn three or more knockout victories stemming from a kick.

Paul Felder

Paul Felder (10-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) enters the event with back-to-back losses after he started his career with 10 consecutive victories.

Felder is one of three fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout victory stemming from a spinning backfist. He accomplished the feat against Danny Castillo at UFC 182.

Ilir Latifi (10-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) competes outside of Europe for the first time in his UFC career.

Latifi is one of 14 fighters in UFC history to earn a victory without landing or absorbing a single significant strike. He accomplished the feat with a first-round submission of Cyrille Diabate at UFC Fight Night 37.

Latifi’s bout with Diabate also marked the first and only fight in modern UFC history to feature zero significant strike attempts by either fighter.

Sean O’Connell (17-6 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has earned both of his UFC victories by knockout.

O’Connell and Gian Villante combined for 202 significant strikes landed at UFC Fight Night 43, a single-fight record for a three-round UFC light-heavyweight bout.

Charles Rosa (10-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has earned all of his career victories by stoppage.

Rosa’s submission of Sean Soriano at 4:43 of Round 3 at UFC Fight Night 59 marked the latest submission ever in a three-round UFC featherweight contest.

Rosa has received a “Fight of the Night” bonus in both of his UFC losses.

Joey Gomez (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has earned all six of his career victories by first-round knockout in a total fight time of 12:11.

For more on UFC Fight Night 81, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

FightMetric research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.