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The two men will square off in a three-round UFC Fight Night 190 showcase on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, with the winner likely moving on to something bigger and better in the 135-pound weight class. Barcelos enters the cage with the wind of a nine-fight winning streak in his sails. He last appeared at UFC on ESPN 17 in November, when he laid claim to a unanimous decision over Khalid Taha. Valiev, meanwhile, has gone 7-0 with one no contest across his past eight outings. He last competed at UFC Fight Night 184, where he took a unanimous decision from Martin Day on Feb. 6.
As Barcelos and Valiev make their final preparations, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
34: Years of age for Barcelos, who was born on May 1, 1987 in Rio de Janeiro.
8: Barcelos wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 50% of his career total (16). His list of victims: Kurt Holobaugh, Carlos Huachin, Dan Moret, Jamal Parks, Erinaldo dos Santos Rodrigues, Joao Herdy Jr., Fabricio Batista and Vitor Riso. Barcelos owns two other wins by submission and six more by decision.
4: Promotions in which Barcelos has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 5-1 in the Resurrection Fighting Alliance, 5-0 in the UFC, 4-0 in Shooto Brazil and 2-0 in Web Fight Combat.
1: Loss on the Barcelos resume. He submitted to a rear-naked choke from Mark Dickman in the second round of their RFA 14 co-main event on April 11, 2014.
120: Significant strikes landed by Barcelos in his unanimous decision over Taha, establishing a new personal best in the category. It surpassed his previous high of 82, set in a third-round knockout of the aforementioned Holobaugh at UFC Fight Night 133.
31: Years of age for Valiev, who was born in Makhachkala, Russia, on Jan. 19, 1990.
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5: Valiev victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 29% of his career total (17). His list of victims: Giovanni da Silva Santos Jr., Ed West, Adam Acquaviva, Algiz Vakhitov and Evgeniy Lazukov. Valiev owns two other victories by submission and 10 more by decision.
94: Seconds needed for Valiev to punch out Vakhitov under the Colosseum Battles Champions banner on Oct. 21, 2012. It remains the fastest finish of his 20-fight career.
2: Defeats on the Valiev ledger. He dropped a unanimous decision to Olle Raberg at World Ultimate Full Contact 16 on Sept. 4, 2010 and wound up on the wrong side of a split decision against Chris Gutierrez at World Series of Fighting 28 on Feb. 20, 2016.
91: Total strikes by which Valiev outlanded Day in their three-round encounter. He also completed four of his six takedown attempts and piled up more than 11 minutes of control time.