The fate of the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight crown will hang in the balance when Jan Blachowicz matches wits and fists with Magomed Ankalaev in the UFC 282 main event on Saturday at T-Mobile-Arena in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Paddy Pimblett puts his five-fight winning streak on the line against Jared Gordon in the three-round lightweight co-headliner at 155 pounds.
39: Years of age for Blachowicz. The oldest fighter on the card, he was born on Feb. 24, 1983 in Cieszyn, Poland—roughly 200 miles from the Polish capital.
6: Knockdowns landed by Ankalaev across his 10 appearances inside the Octagon. He was credited with one of them in a unanimous decision over Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 267, two in a first-round technical knockout of Ion Cutelaba at UFC 254, one in a third-round knockout of Dalcha Lungiambula at UFC Fight Night 163, one in a unanimous decision over Klidson Abreu at UFC Fight Night 145 and one in a first-round TKO of Marcin Prachnio at UFC Fight Night 136.
21: Seconds needed for Pimblett to bury Jack Drabble with punches under the Olympian MMA Championships banner on June 1, 2013. More than nine years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
50: Rounds completed by Gordon as a professional mixed martial artist. The former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder has gone the distance on 11 different occasions and carries a perfect 11-0 record in those bouts.
15: Santiago Ponzinibbio victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 54% of his career total (28). The American Top Team rep’s list of UFC victims: Neil Magny, Gunnar Nelson, Court McGee, Andreas Stahl and Wendell de Oliveira Marques. Ponzinibbio battles Alex Morono—a short-notice replacement for Robbie Lawler—in a featured catchweight attraction at 180 pounds.
3: Sub-minute finishes on the Morono resume. The Fortis MMA product dispatched Jose Castro with an armbar in 21 seconds at a Triple A Promotions show on Dec. 2, 2010, put away Mark Garcia with an armbar in 41 seconds at Legacy Fighting Championship 5 on Jan. 29, 2011 and cut down Larry Hopkins with punches in 44 seconds at a Fury Fighting Championship event on Oct. 24, 2014.
10: Organization for which Darren Till has plied his mixed martial arts trade. He has gone 6-4-1 in the UFC, 3-0 in Sparta MMA, 2-0 in Aspera Fighting Championship, 1-0 in MMA Sanda Combat, 1-0 in Arena Tour MMA, 1-0 in Curitibanos AMG Fight Champion, 1-0 in Predador Campos Fight, 1-0 in Encontro dos Espartanos, 1-0 in Sao Joao Super Fight and 1-0 in Tavares Combat. Till collides with Dricus Du Plessis in a three-round middleweight showcase.
58: Significant strikes by which Du Plessis has outlanded his three opponents in the UFC. He has connected on 164 such strikes while absorbing on 106 of them in wins over Markus Perez, Trevin Giles and Brad Tavares.
8: Countries in which Ilia Topuria has fought as a mixed martial artist. In addition to a 4-0 mark in his adoptive Spain, he has gone 2-0 in the United States, 1-0 in Finland, 1-0 in Belgium, 1-0 in Colombia, 1-0 in Bahrain, 1-0 in the United Arab Emirates and 1-0 in England. Topuria locks horns with Bryce Mitchell and a hotly anticipated three-round featherweight feature.
9: Mitchell victories by submission, accounting for 60% of his career total (15). His methods of choice: five rear-naked chokes, two triangle chokes, one armbar and one twister.
18: Years of age for Raul Rosas Jr. The youngest fighter on the card, he was born on Oct. 8, 2004 in Clovis, New Mexico. Rosas Jr. faces Jay Perrin in a three-round bantamweight prelim.
393: Combined victories between the 24 fighters booked to compete at the event. They boast a cumulative .795 winning percentage at 393-101-1. Blachowicz and Chris Curtis own the most wins among those on the card (29), with Blachowicz, Curtis and T.J. Brown having been saddled with the most losses (nine). Curtis meets Joaquin Buckley in a three-round middleweight pairing, while Brown confronts Erik Silva in a three-round featherweight tilt—both on the undercard.