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TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 5,517
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 509
The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, visited the Land of Walter White with an event you had to see to believe. UFC Fight Night 167 featured a historic number of disqualifications, a fighter fast approaching a dubious weigh-in record and a title contender who is unbeaten in rematches.
THE DISQUELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: For the first time in UFC history, multiple fights ended by disqualification at a single event. Rodrigo Vargas and Michel Pereira landed illegal knees on Brok Weaver and Diego Sanchez while they were downed, resulting in DQs.
GET IT ALL OUT NOW: Only two years in promotional history had ever seen multiple DQs issued: 2012 and 2015.
CHANNELING THEIR INNER HARDY: The last UFC fighter disqualified before Vargas and Pereira was Greg Hardy, who landed an illegal knee on Allen Crowder at UFC Fight Night 143 in January 2019. Over in Bellator MMA, Kiefer Crosbie struck Mike Jackson with an illegal knee at Bellator 224 in July 2019, resulting in the organization’s first disqualification since 2012.
WHO WEARS THE PANTS?: Mark De La Rosa and wife Montana De La Rosa competed on this card, and while he suffered a knockout loss, she won by decision. They were the first married couple in company history to ever compete at the same UFC show.
THE POLISH AVENGER: Jan Blachowicz demolished Corey Anderson with one punch in the first round of their headlining rematch. The former KSW champion has faced three opponents in rematches after losing to them the first time around, and he has beaten them all: Anderson, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Jimi Manuwa.
HE LOOKS LIKE THE GUY FROM WOLFENSTEIN: Blachowicz scored a “Performance of the Night” bonus by finishing Anderson. He has picked up three such bonuses in his last five outings. Meanwhile, each of his last four finishes inside the Octagon have earned him POTN honors.
DREAM TO SOME, NIGHTMARE TO OTHERS: Sanchez—the sixth fighter in organizational history to amass more than 30 appearances in the UFC—walked to the Octagon for the 31st time. Of those six fighters, “The Nightmare” remains the only one to compete in three separate weight classes in his UFC career.
BYE BYE BORG?: For the fourth time in his UFC tenure, Ray Borg missed weight for a fight. He came in two pounds over the flyweight limit, and after taking an extra hour to drop weight, still hit 128 pounds. In April 2019, Borg famously vowed that he would leave the sport behind if he missed weight again.
WEIGHT CUTTING IS FUTILE: Borg’s fourth weight miss ties him with Charles Oliveira for the second-most such failures in company history. John Lineker holds the record with five.
TOO MANY DEVOUR PIZZAS: Despite coming in above the flyweight cap, Borg captured a decision over Rogerio Bontorin, who publicly stated that he was fasting during fight week. Borg has won three of the four bouts for which he has missed weight.
NOT SO GROOVY: By outpointing Yancy Medeiros, Lando Vannata scored just his second win by decision. His victory dropped his finish rate to 82 percent. It was the first time “Groovy Lando” had won by judges’ decision since 2013.
EDGY BRAH LOOKED INTO HIM: Daniel Rodriguez came in on short notice and tapped Tim Means with a second-round guillotine choke. The 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu representative has finished his opponent in 10 of his 11 career wins.
BACK IN THE OLD DAYS OF 2016: John Dodson laid waste to Nathaniel Wood in the third round of their undercard scrap, as he finished the British prospect with punches. It was the first stoppage victory for “The Magician” since he knocked out Manny Gamburyan in April 2016; at that time, 17 fighters competing on this card were not on the active roster.
THE MILLER HIGH LIFE: Albeit in a losing effort, Jim Miller picked up a “Fight of the Night” bonus for his battle with Scott Holtzman. Miller has now earned seven FOTN bonuses in the UFC, one shy of the record held by Nate Diaz.
MILLER VS. BUDWEISER: The bout was Miller’s 34th inside the Octagon, tying him with Donald Cerrone for the most appearances in promotional history.
FORTIS BACK ON THE MAP: After battering Shanna Young in a one-sided unanimous decision, Fortis MMA’s Macy Chiasson now owns two career victories by knockout, another two by tapout and two more by decision.
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into UFC Fight Night 167, Vargas had never dropped consecutive bouts (14 fights), Bontorin had never lost a fight on the scorecards (18 fights) and De La Rosa had never been knocked out (14 fights).
A WELCOME REPRIEVE: For the first time since UFC Fight Night 160 in September—a stretch of 13 events—no fighter used a track by any of the seven most frequently used walkout artists: Eminem, Kanye West, 2Pac, DMX, AC/DC, Johnny Cash or Notorious B.I.G.
EVERYONE’S LOOKING AT YOU: In making his walk to the cage accompanied by Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend,” Miller became the second fighter in recorded UFC walkout music history to emerge with that band playing throughout the arena. Kyle Kingsbury first used the song at UFC 139 in 2011 and dropped a decision to Stephan Bonnar.