Fight Facts: PFL 3 2019 Regular Season

You can sign up for a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream PFL and the UFC on ESPN+ live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

* * *

TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL FIGHTS: 515
TOTAL NUMBER OF PFL EVENTS: 52

The Professional Fighters League on Thursday began its light heavyweight and heavyweight competitions in Uniondale, New York. PFL 3: 2019 Regular Season featured two countries represented quite differently by their fighters, a man proving age is just a number and the biggest betting upset of the promotion’s sophomore campaign so far.

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING: Every Russian fighter who faced a non-Russian opponent at this event won -- five in total -- while Rashid Yusupov won the all-Russian bout against Mikhail Mokhnatkin.

MADE IN AMERICA: All six American fighters who faced foreign opponents at this event lost. The only American to win was Kelvin Tiller, but he was facing fellow American Muhammed DeReese.

LATE NIGHT FOR NYC: Seven fights went the full 15 minutes, tying five other events for the fifth-most decisions at a single show in company history. Because two of those events -- PFL 9 and PFL 10 in 2018 -- held two-round fights, only WSOF 26 and PFL “Everett” had more fights go at least 15 minutes or longer.

DON’T BE RIDICULOUS: Two fights on the card ended in a split verdict, tying seven other events for the most split decisions at any WSOF-PFL show.

MAGALHEIST: Emiliano Sordi (+425) knocked out Vinny Magalhaes (-610) in the second round to score the biggest betting upset of the 2019 PFL season so far. Of every recorded fighter in WSOF-PFL history to close as a betting favorite of -500 or above, Magalhaes is the only such favorite to lose more than once. He was -500 to Sean O'Connell’s +400 at the PFL 2018 Championships.

SECOND VERSE, SAME AS THE FIRST: Tiller, as he did in 2018, finished his first opponent in the first round to earn six points, only this time he opted to win by submission instead of knockout and did so 12 seconds quicker at 3:22. Tiller currently sits in second place in the heavyweight rankings, trailing only Denis Goltsov, who scored a Round 1 knockout in 2:03.

KELVIN KIMURAED: By tapping DeReese with a kimura, Tiller picked up the third win with a kimura in promotional history. Magalhaes tapped Rakim Cleveland with a flying triangle kimura in 2018.

ROCKY ROADSHOLT: Jared Rosholt suffered a first-round knockout loss at the hands of the debuting Goltsov. This marked the fourth time Rosholt had ever lost inside the WSOF-PFL cage, tying eight other fighters for the second-most losses in company history. They all trail Mike Kyle, who has six defeats on his resume.

IT WAS A BIG SHOW: All four of Rosholt’s losses under the WSOF-PFL banner have come by stoppage. The number ties him with Brian Foster for the most stoppage losses in company history.

SAFETY NET: Ronny Markes missed the light heavyweight limit by almost six pounds against Sigi Pesaleli, so the latter was awarded three points for a walkover win. Pesaleli opted to take the fight in an attempt to earn more points if he finished Markes, only to be knocked out by Markes. Pesaleli still kept his three points, while Markes earned none.

LIKE THE GREYBEARDS ON THEIR MOUNTAIN: Bozigit Ataev exacted revenge against Dan Spohn -- Spohn knocked out Ataev in 2018 -- and dispatched “The Ultimate Fighter 19” alum in the first round. Ataev has delivered 19 of his 20 career wins by stoppage, including 18 in the first round. Ataev has only reached the scorecards once, beating Tsuyoshi Kosaka in 2001.

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into PFL 3 2019 Regular Season, DeReese (seven fights) and Jordan Johnson (10 fights) had never been defeated, Spohn had never been knocked out (24 fights) and Mokhnatkin had never suffered consecutive losses (16 fights).

Sherdog contributing editor Jay Pettry is an attorney and a statistician. Writing about MMA since he started studying the “Eminem Curse” in 2012 and working for Vice Sports and Combat Docket along the way, he put together many fight result and entrance music databases to better study the sport. You can find him on twitter at @jaypettry.