After a controversial loss to Sergio Moraes, Tim Means bounced back with a first-round TKO of Ricky Rainey at “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 28 Finale. He will next trade punches with Niko Price, who is 4-2 (1 NC) in the Octagon. With 26 knockout victories between them, the matchup promises to be a scrap.
It will take place at UFC Fight Night 146 when the Ultimate Fighting Championship debuts in Wichita, Kansas, on March 9. Get to know more about “The Dirty Bird” through these career-defining numbers.
2: Straight victories to start his professional career, after which he faced future UFC standouts Luke Caudillo and Spencer Fisher, who dealt him his first two losses.
14: Fights in King of the Cage, with a record of 12 wins, one loss and one draw. His most notable victims include two more future UFC standouts Cody Pfister and Bobby Green. Means climbed to the top of the promotion’s junior welterweight ladder to challenge and defeat Ricky Legere for the belt.
3: Times he successfully defended the KOTC junior welterweight championship, defeating Pfister, Dom O'Grady and Cris Leyva. Among the three, only O’Grady reached the final bell.
30: Seconds was all he needed to take the vacant KOTC lightweight title. In the main event of KOTC: Total Destruction, Means stopped Brown via TKO in front of the latter’s home crowd.
83: Significant strikes against Bernardo Magalhaes’ 28 in Mean’s Octagon debut. The one-sided affair happened at UFC on Fox 1 on Feb. 15, 2012, less than a month since “The Dirty Bird” captured the KOTC lightweight crown.
3: Full rounds with Jorge Masvidal at UFC on Fox 7. After going 2-0 to start his UFC career, Means was tasked to welcome former Strikeforce title challenger Jorge Masvidal in the Octagon. While his takedown defense and jiu-jitsu could do some work, Means was able to hold his own against Masvidal especially in the striking department. However, he lost by unanimous decision.
2: Performance of the Night bonuses. Means has had two shining moments in the UFC, and those were when he defeated Dhiego Lima and John Howard. He knocked out the aforementioned fighters at UFC 184 and UFC Fight Night 80, respectively.
15: Opponents stopped in the first round. Of his 23 stoppage victories, 15 came in round 1. In the UFC, his victims include Lima, Justin Salas and Ricky Rainey.
4: Submission victories on his resume. Jiu-jitsu isn’t exactly his strong suit, but Means did score wins by tapout. He beat July Guiterrez, John Cronk and Cody Pfister by rear-naked choke and George Sullivan by arm triangle.
872: Significant strikes landed in UFC competition. He has attempted 1,931 significant strikes, which makes him 45 percent accurate. His most in a single fight was 129, which he did on a controversial split decision loss to Sergio Moraes.
8: Takedowns scored in UFC competition. Means was able to take down Neil Magny, Hernani Perpetuo, Marcio Alexandre Junior, George Sullivan, Alex Oliveria and Rick Rainey.