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Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting
information and Octagon oddities on every card, with some puns,
references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat
dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and
telling the stories behind those numbers.
* * *
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 6,444
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 590
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship barely made it to the first
finish line of 2022, with a 10-fight offering that brought little
in the way of entertainment value until the last few matches. The
main event delivered as anticipated, thus elevating this event from
a major disappointment to one where several key pieces of
information were discerned.
UFC on ESPN 32 featured the end of a wonderfully bizarre
streak, an eye-popping strike total in the headliner and unorthodox
holiday-themed walkout music.
Like An Andy Capp Comic: When the dust settled,
Calvin
Kattar and Giga
Chikadze threw 749
significant strikes at one another, with 402 coming from Kattar
and the remaining 347 from Chikadze. In the process, these two
featherweights cracked the top 10
for the most significant strikes attempted in a single UFC fight,
clocking in beneath Kamaru
Usman vs. Colby
Covington’s first 755-strike battle in 2019.
Y’all Musta Forgot Calvin: A personal best for
Kattar, he landed 144
significant strikes on Chikadze, including 127 to the head.
“The Boston Finisher” connected with almost as many significant
strikes as the Georgian’s previous six opponents combined (161 in
total).
Saved By the Bell: The Massachusetts native landed
a knockdown towards the tail end of the fifth round. In the prior
four UFC bouts that Kattar had dropped a foe, he had recorded a
finish; Chikadze survived to the final bell.
The Shoe’s On the Other Foot: The former Glory
featherweight tournament finalist suffered a knockdown for the
first time since joining the roster. To that point, Chikadze had
racked up six knockdowns, including at least one in each of his
last five outings, but he had yet to be dropped.
Five-Round Cardio of Sorts: Win or lose, Chikadze
had yet to go into the fifth round as a professional MMA fighter
until Kattar pushed him there. While he had reached Round 5 as a
kickboxer, those rounds are only three minutes in length.
Phase 1 vs. Phase 2: Chikadze’s first four UFC
bouts – all decisions – went his way without much additional
fanfare. Since his knockout of Jamey
Simmons in 2020, each of his last four outings has been
accompanied by post-fight bonuses, including the “Fight of the
Night” check he split with Kattar.
But Why Was It the Co-Main? Jake
Collier submitted Chase
Sherman around the midpoint of the fight for the second
stoppage of the night. In doing so, Collier handed Sherman his
eighth loss on the roster, and “The Vanilla Gorilla” is now tied
for the seventh-most defeats in UFC heavyweight history alongside
names like Alistair
Overeem and Junior dos
Santos. Andrei
Arlovski’s 14 are the most, but he also holds the most wins as
well.
The Perfect Imperfect Streak: Collier made his UFC
debut in 2014 at middleweight, losing by knockout to Vitor
Miranda. He won his next fight, and then lost the one after,
following that pattern to date. The now-heavyweight Collier has
gone 10 straight bouts without amassing consecutive victories or
defeats.
He Likes It Raw: For just the second time in his
19-fight career, Brandon
Royval won by decision. “Raw Dawg” saw his career finish rate
lowered to 85% in victory over Rogerio
Bontorin, and notched his first win at the hands of the judges
since beating Charles
Johnson at LFA 48 in 2018.
Got Maia’s Number: Katlyn
Chookagian officially entered into her 10th UFC flyweight bout
when she faced and defeated Jennifer
Maia, placing her one short of Gillian
Robertson for the most in the history of the division. Of note,
Chookagian’s first match with Maia came at a catchweight after Maia
missed weight.
Fuzzy Flyweight Math: If counting the first Maia
win among those at flyweight as Chookagian successfully made
weight, Chookagian has recorded eight wins in the division since
dropping to the division in 2018. She ties champ Valentina
Shevchenko for the most triumphs in UFC flyweight history.
150 Long Minutes of History: No matter the weight
division, every one of Chookagian’s 10 UFC wins has come by
decision. She is now the first fighter in UFC history to record her
first 10 victories all on the scorecards.
Slava Claws Out: Earning the lone knockout of the
night along with a $50,000 check for his effort, Viacheslav
Borshchev folded Dakota Bush
with body shots to force the first-round stoppage. “Slava”
celebrates a knockout rate of 83% in his young career, with each of
his last four wins knockouts within two rounds.
Tire Brito Out, Check: Bill Algeo
handled newcomer Joanderson
Brito to win a unanimous decision. While his last six outings
have all reached the final bell, it was only the second time Brito
had fought 15 minutes in his last 11 fights dating back to
2017.
Ugly Fight: After three grueling rounds, Jamie
Pickett won a decision over UFC debutant Joseph
Holmes. “Ugly Man Joe” posts a 100% finish rate when he wins,
while he has only been beaten on the scorecards.
Crusher Gonna Crush: By beating Ramiz
Brahimaj in a clear-cut decision, Court McGee
finds himself on his first win streak since 2013. “The Crusher” has
not finished a foe since 2010, spanning 17 fights and eight
victories.
Strong Streak Shattered: Stepping up on extremely
short notice and up a division, Charles
Rosa lost a decision to T.J. Brown.
The defeat put “Boston Strong” on the first losing streak of his
UFC tenure, and ended a record-tying stretch of 11 straight fights
where he had alternated wins and losses.
Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC on ESPN 32,
Sherman had never been submitted (23 fights), Bush had never been
knocked out (11 fights) and Brito had never lost on the scorecards
(15 fights).
Christmas Cheer: Walking out to a mashup starting
with Christmas song “Jingle Bells” before leading into “Good Day” by Greg
Street featuring Nappy Roots, Borshchev is the first fighter in
UFC history to select this holiday music as his walkout tune.
“Slava Claus” went on to record the only stoppage due to strikes of
the evening.
Great Song, Not So Much About the Artist: With
McGee getting his hand raised after “Stranglehold” by Ted
Nugent played as his walkout music, the win percentage of the
rock hit lifted above .700. As such, it accompanies the highest win
rate of any music with at least 20 recorded uses.
