Jan Blachowicz reached the Ultimate Fighting Championship mountaintop once before and now gets the opportunity to do so again.
As Blachowicz and Ankalaev move ever closer to their forthcoming battle in Sin City, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
39: Years of age for Blachowicz, who was born in Cieszyn, Poland, on Feb. 24, 1983.
9: Blachowicz wins by submission, accounting for 31% of his career total (29). His methods of choice: five rear-naked chokes, three armbars and one arm-triangle choke. Blachowicz holds nine other wins by knockout or technical knockout (31%) and 11 more by decision (38%).
95: Seconds needed for Blachowicz to put away Daniel Dowda with punches at KSW “Elimination” on Sept. 15, 2007. More than 15 years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
787: Significant strikes landed by Blachowicz as a UFC light heavyweight, placing him fifth on the promotion’s all-time list at 205 pounds. Only Jon Jones (1,463), Glover Teixeira (878), Mauricio Rua (871) and Forrest Griffin (796) have connected with more.
148: Combined victories between the nine men—Teixeira, Thiago Santos, Patrick Cummins, Alexander Gustafsson, Corey Anderson, Jimi Manuwa, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Andre Fyeet and Marcin Krysztofiak—who have defeated Blachowicz. They sport a cumulative .655 winning percentage at 148-78.
30: Years of age for Ankalaev, who was born on June 2, 1992 in Makhachkala, Russia.
9: Ankalaev wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 53% of his career total (17). His list of UFC victims: Smith, Ion Cutelaba (twice), Dalcha Lungiambula and Marcin Prachnio. Ankalaev owns eight other wins by decision (47%).
32: Rounds completed by Ankalaev as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on eight different occasions and carries a perfect 8-0 record in those bouts.
2: Sub-minute finishes on the Ankalaev resume. He struck Lloyd Marshbanks into submission in 15 seconds at a World Fighting Championship Akhmat show on April 9, 2016 and dispatched Cutelaba with head kicks and follow-up punches in 38 seconds at UFC Fight Night 169 on Feb. 29, 2020.
.702: Cumulative winning percentage among the eight men—Smith, Cutelaba (twice), Lungiambula, Prachnio, Santos, Volkan Oezdemir, Nikita Krylov and Klidson Abreu—Ankalaev has beaten as a member of the UFC roster. They boast a combined record of 163-69-1.