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TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 5,972
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 550
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to its headquarters of the UFC Apex for the beginning of a long rotation in Las Vegas with a Fight Night event stacked with high-stakes matchups. While the night (mostly) started slow, excitement and intensity grew to a “Rocky IV”-like crescendo during most of the top flight bouts. UFC Fight Night 184 featured an ultra-rare fighter that has picked up both spinning and flying knockouts, several old veterans still trying to put on a show and the emergence of a new heavyweight top contender named “Drago.”
Hit the One in the Middle: UFC Fight Night 184 is the first event since UFC Fight Night 114 in August 2017 where two knockouts in 30 seconds or less took place. It is the sixth event in company history where this occurred.
I Must Break You: Alexander Volkov knocked out Alistair Overeem in the second round to earn his 22nd career knockout win. Two-thirds of his wins have come by knockout, with “Drago” posting an overall finish rate of 76 percent.
This Was Supposed to Be an Exhibition: Overeem suffered his 15th knockout loss as a pro MMA fighter when Volkov put him down with punches. Of the other 23 fighters on the card, only Clay Guida and Michael Johnson have lost that many times total in their careers.
If He Dies, He Dies: The knockout loss inside the Octagon was Overeem’s eighth, tying Frank Mir, Gabriel Gonzaga and Stefan Struve for the most in UFC history.
Champ, Look, This Fight’s Over: Each of Overeem’s UFC losses have come by knockout, making him the only fighter of those four with eight strike-stoppage defeats to never drop a decision. None of them lost by submission under the UFC banner.
I’ve Retired More Men Than Social Security: Overeem’s professional MMA debut came at an It’s Showtime event in October 1999, where he hit a guillotine choke on Ricardo Fyeet in 99 seconds. At that time, fellow UFC Fight Night 184 competitor Youssef Zalal had recently turned three.
Whatever He Hits…: Cory Sandhagen scorched Frankie Edgar with a flying knee in only 28 seconds. In the process, he notched the third-quickest flying knee knockout in company history, with the Jorge Masvidal’s five-second demolition of Ben Askren at UFC 239 in 2019 the fastest.
He Destroys: In addition to stamping his place among the pantheon of all-time great flying knee knockouts the sport has ever seen, Sandhagen’s 28-second finish is the sixth-fastest knockout in UFC bantamweight history.
I’m Here to Fight: With his previous triumph a spinning wheel kick knockout of Marlon Moraes, Sandhagen is now the third fighter in promotional history to stop foes with both flying and spinning strikes. The first was Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos in 2018, and this was replicated in 2019 by Johnny Walker.
If I Can Change: Guida’s appearance against Michael Johnson was his 30th under the UFC banner. By merely competing, he joins an illustrious club with members consisting of Donald Cerrone, Jim Miller, Andrei Arlovski, Jeremy Stephens, Demian Maia, Diego Sanchez and Rafael dos Anjos. Guida has competed against three of those seven men.
And You Can Change: The win by decision was Guida’s 10th on the UFC roster, and he is the 15th man to do so. Just seven fighters throughout company history have recorded more: Brad Tavares, Edgar, Gleison Tibau, Neil Magny and Dos Anjos all with 11, and Sanchez tied with Georges St. Pierre with 12.
Everybody Can Change: In his 30th UFC bout, Guida continues a UFC career that began at UFC 64 in October 2006 – longer than any other fighter on the card. The only others at UFC Vegas 18 that were even professional at the time were Overeem and Edgar, but neither had joined the roster yet.
Throw the Damn Towel: In the second round, Danilo Marques hit a rear-naked choke on Mike Rodriguez to put “Slow” to sleep. In victory, the Brazilian light heavyweight lifted his career stoppage rate to 82 percent.
I Want You to Promise Me You’re Not Gonna Stop This Fight: By forcing the doctor to intervene to call a halt to the match, Devonte Smith recorded a technical knockout over Justin Jaynes in Round 2. In doing so, he kept his perfect 100 percent finish rate intact, with ten of 11 career victories coming by knockout.
You Think It’s You Against You? Boosting his career stoppage rate to 89 percent by blitzing Jerome Rivera in 26 seconds, each of Ode Osbourne’s finishes have come within 6:10 of a fight. His knockout is tied for the seventh-quickest in UFC featherweight history.
I Don’t Want to Change, I Like Who I Am: Taking the fight on short notice at featherweight, Rivera earned the unfortunate distinction of appearing once in three different weight classes and losing each time. This is a feat previously achieved by Jason Reinhardt.
Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 184, Kape had never competed in the U.S. (19 fights), Rodriguez (17 fights) and Molly McCann (13 fights) had never lost consecutive bouts and Seung Woo Choi had never won consecutive decisions (11 fights).
The Unsilent Majority: Both Sandhagen and Edgar came out to tracks from Notorious B.I.G., with Sandhagen electing to use “Gimme the Loot” while Edgar countered with his usual of “Kick in the Door.” It is the second time in recorded UFC walkout music history where two fighters both picked Biggie tracks, with the first a 2016 battle between Wilson Reis and Hector Sandoval at UFC 201 in 2016.
Little Loud for My Taste: Not counting the music video played between the co-main and main events, UFC Fight Night 184 is the first event of the year to feature a fighter walking out to a track by Eminem. Rodriguez used “Lucky You” featuring Joyner Lucas and was put to sleep with a choke. UFC Fight Night 177 is the last time a fighter used Eminem, when Billy Quarantillo walked out to “S--- Hits the Fan” by Obie Trice featuring Eminem and Dr. Dre back in September 2020. This gap spans 17 events and nearly five months.
You Can’t Win! The only fighter in organizational history to walk out to Def Leppard did it again when Martin Day selected “Pour Some Sugar on Me” for the third time. Like his last two bouts, “The Spartan” lost.