Featherweight prospects Dan Ige and Kevin Aguilar are both looking impressive thus far in their respective Ultimate Fighting Championship careers. On June 22, they will cross paths at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, at UFC Fight Night 154. As they try to keep their winning runs alive, take a closer look into their upcoming fight through the numbers below.
Octagon appearances
Aguilar and Ige are fairly new to the UFC, with both fighters being a part of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. Aguilar, 30, for example, has only fought inside the Octagon twice. He started his career in an event called Ascend Combat and fought for other regional promotions, most notably LLegacy Fighting Alliance and Legacy Fighting Championship, where he shared the cage with UFC veteran Leonard Garcia on Dec. 6, 2013 in a losing effort.
Five years later, Aguilar made his way to the Octagon, successfully debuting against Rick Glenn at “The Ultimate Fighter 28” Finale in December. He next fought at UFC on ESPN 2 earlier this year where he decisioned Enrique Barzola.
Ige also made his UFC debut in 2018 but much earlier, specifically on January 20. Unlike Aguilar, he was deprived of a maiden fight victory by Julio Arce. He then bounced back with a string of triumphs over Mike Santiago, Jordan Griffin and Danny Henry, improving his Octagon record to 3-1.
Finishing rate (knockout)
With 10 wins by KO or TKO, Aguilar has a clear weapon in his fists. In fact, he started his professional career by knocking out his first six opponents. “The Angel of Death” owns 17 wins total, which makes for a 59 percent knockout finishing rate. Ige, on the other hand, carries three wins by KO or TKO. With 11 career wins, he registers a 27 percent knockout out finishing rate in comparison.
Finishing rate (submission)
Ige is a jiu-jitsu black belt and a judo brown belt. With five victories by tapout, he has certainly been making good use of his grappling aptitude. His submission finishing rate stands at 45 percent. As for Aguilar, submissions may not be his bread and butter, but he does have one victory by submission, making for a 6 percent finishing rate.
Significant strikes landed in first two UFC fights
Ige landed a total of 60 significant strikes on his first couple of UFC bouts. He connected 35 on Arce in a fight that lasted three full rounds. For his second UFC fight, Ige needed only 50 seconds to dispose of his opponent, but during that span of time, he was still able to score 25 significant strikes. Aguilar is the more voluminous striker, having landed 144 significant strikes in his first two UFC appearances. He scored 86 on Glenn and 58 on Barzola.
Career losses
As aforementioned, Aguilar lost to Leonard Garcia at LFC 26. That was the first and only loss of his professional career. Ige, meanwhile, has lost twice. The other guy to beat him aside from Arce is Taichi Nakajima at Pancrase 272.