Chances for a violent finish were deemed inordinately high as soon as Anthony Smith and Johnny Walker were booked opposite one another by Ultimate Fighting Championship matchmakers.
As Smith and Walker move ever closer to their looming showdown at 205 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
34: Years of age for Smith, who was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, on July 26, 1988.
19: Smith wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 53% of his career total (36). His list of UFC victims: Jimmy Crute, Mauricio Rua, Rashad Evans, Hector Lombard, Andrew Sanchez and Elvis Mutapcic. Smith holds 14 other wins by submission (39%), two more by decision (5%) and another via uncredited means (3%).
22: Seconds needed for Smith to punch out Mike George at a TriState Cage Fights show on April 17, 2010. More than 13 years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
15: Consecutive calendar years in which Smith has fought at least once. He went 4-2 in 2008, 1-3 in 2009, 5-2 in 2010, 5-1 in 2011, 3-0 in 2012, 0-3 in 2013, 3-0 in 2014, 3-0 in 2015, 3-1 in 2016, 2-0 in 2017, 3-1 in 2018, 1-1 in 2019, 1-2 in 2020, 2-0 in 2021 and 0-1 in 2022.
280: Combined victories between the 17 opponents—Ankalaev, Aleksandar Rakic, Glover Teixeira, Jon Jones, Thiago Santos, Cezar Ferreira, Josh Neer, Antonio Braga Neto, Roger Gracie, Adlan Amagov, Jesse Forbes, Jake Hecht, Mike Pitz, Chaun Sims, Brian Monaghan, Charley Lynch and Chuck Parmelee—who have beaten Smith. They boast a cumulative .758 winning percentage at 280-88-4.
31: Years of age for Walker, who was born on March 30, 1992 in Belford Roxo, Brazil.
16: Walker victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 80% of his career total (20). His list of UFC victims: Craig, Ryan Spann, Misha Cirkunov, Justin Ledet and Khalil Rountree. Walker owns three other victories by submission (15%) and one more by decision (5%).
200,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Walker across his 10 appearances in the UFC. He has been awarded “Performance of the Night” on four different occasions.
6: Sub-minute stoppages on the Walker resume, with two of them having taken place inside the Octagon. He wiped out Ledet with a spinning backfist and follow-up punches in 15 seconds at UFC Fight Night 144 and cut down Cirkunov with a flying knee and follow-up punches in 38 seconds at UFC 235.
.736: Cumulative winning percentage between the seven opponents—Santos, Jamahal Hill, Nikita Krylov, Corey Anderson, Henrique Silva Lopes, Klidson Abreu and Wagner Prado—who have defeated Walker. They sport a combined record of 118-42-1.