In the main event, Henderson held the significant strike advantage over Masvidal 86 to 77. However, when it comes to total strikes, Masvidal held the edge 217 to 138. The concept of Significant Strikes was developed by Fight Metric and is fully explained here. Basically, it excludes strikes that are thrown simply to keep busy in the clinch and on the ground. Since this fight was mostly contested on the feet, most of these insignificant strikes came in the clinch position. The disparity between the fighters in terms of total strikes is expected, because Henderson continually forced clinch fighting along the cage. While he held position and looked for takedowns, Masvidal tried to score as best he could.

The Unified Rules state, "judges shall use a sliding scale and recognize the length of time the fighters are either standing or on the ground as follows... if the mixed martial artists spent a majority of a round standing, then: effective striking is weighed first." Despite this, fighters pushing their opponents into a clinch position along the cage and doing very little are continually rewarded. There are tons of examples, but Randy Couture's robbery decision win over Brandon Vera is probably the best example of "wall and stall" influencing a judge's decision.

This belies the genius and effectiveness of Henderson's strategy. His failed takedowns and clinches might seem like a cheap tactic to hold position along the cage, but the difference between the significant strike and total strike numbers show the actual genius in the strategy. By forcing the clinch on a more skilled striker, Henderson forced Masvidal to resort to throwing strikes without much impact. At the same time, Henderson was able to be the better striker on the StrikeScore scale in three of the five rounds.

Henderson is a true master of distance. In his fights, he always appears to strive to be either all the way or all the way out. He is either close enough to clinch and avoid strikes or far enough away that opponents can not touch him with strikes. Masvidal was able to give him problems by scoring with a rangy kicking game, but Henderson's strategy ultimately paid off again. The former champion is now 6-1 in five-round decisions in the UFC and WEC. Interestingly enough, his only defeat in such a fight came against one of the most dangerous range kickers in the sport, Anthony Pettis.