It wasn’t the way he wanted it to happen, but Yair Rodriguez is climbing the ladder in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s featherweight division nonetheless.
Here is a by-the-numbers look at UFC on ABC, with statistics courtesy of UFCStats.com.
1,002: Days since Rodriguez’s last UFC triumph, a unanimous decision triumph against current Professional Fighters League talent Jeremy Stephens at UFC on ESPN 6.
48: Total strikes landed by Rodriguez before the injury. By comparison, Ortega landed 26 total strikes. Rodriguez also held a 23-to-22 edge in significant strikes landed.
1: Takedown landed in five attempts for Ortega. Rodriguez, however, was not officially credited with a submission attempt for the armbar that led to Ortega’s shoulder popping out of place.
6: Second-round finishes at UFC on ABC 3, tying it with UFC 185 for the most such finishes in promotion history.
4: Finishes for Amanda Lemos, tying her with Mackenzie Dern for the third most in the history of the UFC’s strawweight division behind only Rose Namajunas (five) and Jessica Andrade (five). Lemos tapped Michelle Waterson-Gomez with a guillotine choke in the second stanza of their strawweight co-main event.
8: KO/TKO finishes in UFC competition for Jingliang Li, tying him with Thiago Alves and Vicente Luque for the second most in the history of the welterweight division behind only Matt Brown (15). “The Leech” defeated Muslim Salikhov via second-round TKO in their 170-pound main card bout.
3: Triangle choke submission wins in UFC competition for Matt Schnell, who used the maneuver to dispatch Su Mudaerji in a memorable flyweight scrap. That total ranks second in promotion history behind only Paul Craig (four).
73: Combined significant strikes landed by Schnell (34) and Mudaerji (39) during a wild second stanza that ranks among the top contenders for “Round of the Year” in 2022. Mudaerji was also credited with a knockdown in the period, while Schnell secured a takedown and the fight-ending submission.
71: Significant strikes by which Charles Jourdain outlanded Shane Burgos in their featherweight clash. That included an 84-to-26 edge in significant strikes in Round 3, but it wasn’t enough to offset Burgos’ grappling in a majority decision loss. Burgos’ total deficit in significant strikes is the third largest in UFC history for a fighter winning by decision.
6:25: Total control time for Burgos, including 5:26 in the first two rounds. The Team Tiger Schulmann product landed two of seven takedowns and attempted three submissions in the fight.
7: UFC flyweight wins for Lauren Murphy, tying her with Gillian Robertson for the third most in the history of the division. Valentina Shevchenko and Katlyn Chookagian are tied for No. 1 with nine wins at 125 pounds. Murphy outpointed ex-bantamweight champ Miesha Tate a featured clash on Saturday.
102: Significant strikes landed by Murphy. By comparison, Tate landed 85. Murphy outlanded her foe 77 to 61 in head strikes, 24 to 18 in body strikes and 31 to 18 in clinch strikes.
0: Takedowns landed in seven attempts for Tate, just the third time in her promotional tenure that she has failed to land a takedown.
4: Consecutive victories for Ricky Simon, the fifth-longest active winning streak in the bantamweight division. Simon submitted the previously undefeated Jack Shore with an arm-triangle choke in their preliminary matchup. Simon has won five straight UFC fights overall, but one of those victories occurred at 145 pounds.
2: Knockdowns for Simon in his last two Octagon appearances, the most recent of which set the stage for his submission win over Shore. Simon failed to land a knockdown in his first eight UFC bouts.
43: Career takedowns landed by Simon, who landed two of eight attempts against Shore. Simon has landed at least two takedowns in all but one of his 10 Octagon appearances.
63: Total strikes by which Bill Algeo outlanded Herbert Burns in their featherweight bout. Algeo battered his foe with ground-and-pound until Burns was unable to return to his feet following a standup at the 1:50 mark of Round 2. Algeo also held a 28-to-10 advantage in significant strikes, which included a 24-to-6 edge on the ground.
2: Submissions attempted by Burns in Round 1. Once those efforts failed, it was all Algeo, as he enjoyed 4:01 of control time in the opening stanza.
7: Unbeaten streak for Dustin Jacoby — that stretch includes a draw with Ion Cutelaba in May 2021 — the second-longest such streak in the light heavyweight division behind only Magomed Ankalaev (eight). Jacoby scored a first-round knockout of Da Un Jung in a preliminary 205-pound contest.
51: Significant leg strikes landed by Emily Ducote in a unanimous decision triumph over Jessica Penne at strawweight. That figure ranks as the third most landed in a UFC fight at any weight class behind only Joselyne Edwards (77) vs. Ramona Pascual at UFC 275 and Jordan Leavitt (52) vs. Trey Ogden at UFC on ESPN 34. That figure is also a record for a three-round UFC strawweight fight.
116: Significant strikes landed by Ducote overall. By comparison, Penne landed 63. Ducote also defended all eight of her opponent’s takedown attempts.