After alternating wins and losses in his last four fights, Tim Boetsch will have consistency in mind when he faces Omari Akhmedov on March 9 at UFC Fight Night 146. Boetsch will be the bigger fighter and will try to prove his grappling dominance over the accomplished Russian wrestler and sambo practitioner.
“The Barbarian” has scored notable victories over Johny Hendricks, Rafael Natal, Brad Tavares, Hector Lombard and Yushin Okami, and would want nothing more than to add Akhmedov to his resume. Ahead of their upcoming scuffle, here are some numbers that define his career.
6: Years old when he started training in wrestling. The four-time state champion for Camden Hills Regional High School achieved great success, having won almost every tournament he competed in. In college, he attended Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania on a wrestling scholarship.
6: Wins without a loss to start his professional career, fighting mostly in New Jersey. On his second bout, he knocked out Hazem Ibrahim to take the Reality Fighting light heavyweight championship.
3: Full rounds with Vladimir Matyushenko. After a string of impressive victories in the regional circuit, Boetsch signed with the International Fight League and fought future promotional champion and former UFC standout on his debut. Boetsch lost by decision but put up a decent fight despite having only three days to prepare.
10: Days of preparation to face David Heath in his Octagon debut. Boetsch was a late replacement and won by TKO with eight seconds left in the first round. On account of his strong showing where he infamously threw Heath onto his head, Boetsch made his main card debut for his next bout.
21: Takedowns scored in UFC competition. The high school and collegiate wrestling standout has attempted a total of 59 takedowns.
7: Takedowns was his most in a single UFC bout. On his middleweight debut at UFC 130, Boetsch faced Kendall Grove and used his strength advantage and superior wrestling to dominate the Hawaiian en route to a unanimous decision victory.
156: Combined significant strikes landed in his four-fight winning streak in the Octagon. His victims were Grove, Nick Ring, Yushin Okami and Hector Lombard.
41: Significant strikes against Johny Hendricks’ 10 at UFC Fight Night 112. Boetsch fought the former welterweight champion in the latter’s home state of Oklahoma and won by TKO.
51: Percent striking accuracy in the Octagon. The 23-fight UFC veteran has attempted a total of 1,156 significant strikes and landed 594.
60: Significant strikes was his most in a single fight. He went on to win by unanimous decision on this UFC 117 showdown with Todd Brown.
2: Weight divisions in which he has fought in. He has achieved success both at light heavyweight and middleweight where he now resides.
3: Post-fight bonuses earned in the UFC. Boetsch has taken home $150,000 in bonus money for his two Performance of the Night (versus Tavares and Hendricks) awards and one Fight of the Night (versus Thales Leites) award.