The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 236 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.
“The Diamond” got through one of the sport’s pound-for-pound best in the UFC 236 headliner, as he outpointed reigning featherweight king Max Holloway in a bloody five-round battle to capture the interim lightweight championship. Poirier ended Holloway’s 13-bout UFC winning streak, but the journey doesn’t get any easier from here: A date with undisputed 155-pound king Khabib Nurmagomedov awaits.
Meanwhile, Israel Adesanya and Kelvin Gastelum put on a show in the co-main event, with “The Last Stylebender” pouring it on in round five to take a unanimous decision and claim the interim middleweight crown. Adesanya is now unbeaten in 17 professional bouts and has set up a potential blockbuster title unification bout against Robert Whittaker later this year.
Here is a by-the-numbers look at UFC 236, with statistics courtesy of UFCStats.com.
359: Significant strikes landed by Poirier (178) and Holloway (181) combined. That’s the second largest total in promotion history behind only Holloway’s win over Brian Ortega at UFC 231, where the combatants combined for 400 significant strikes. Holloway and Poirier’s individual totals rank second and third all-time for significant strikes landed in a five-round lightweight fight. Tony Ferguson holds the top spot with 200 significant strikes landed in a win over Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 98.
24: Significant strikes by which Poirier outlanded Holloway in round one.
20: Significant strike advantage for Holloway in round three. The other three frames were closer, with Holloway outlanding his foe by one in round two and eight in round four, while Poirier held a two-strike edge in the final period.
39: Significant body strikes landed by Holloway. Poirier, meanwhile, landed 18.
1: Takedown landed in eight attempts for Poirier. The American Top Team representative landed his lone takedown of the fight in round four.
Related » UFC 236 Post-Fight Press Conference Video
22: UFC fights for Poirier before he received a title shot. Only former middleweight champion Michael Bisping (26 fights) toiled longer before receiving a shot at UFC gold. Others who took the long road to a title shot include Donald Cerrone (19), Dos Anjos (18) and Josh Koscheck (18).
2,625: Days since the first meeting between Holloway and Poirier, which “The Diamond” won via triangle armbar 3:23 into round one at UFC 143. That bout was Holloway’s Octagon debut and Poirier’s fourth UFC appearance.
6: Consecutive victories for Adesanya, currently the second-longest active winning streak in the middleweight division behind undisputed 185-pound king Robert Whittaker, who has won eight in a row.
109: Significant strikes landed by Adesanya. By comparison, Gastelum landed 91. “The Last Stylebender” outlanded his foe 29 to 20 in round two, 16 to 12 in round three and 37 to 15 in round five. Gastelum outlanded Adesanya 12 to 10 in round one and 32 to 17 in round four.
3: Knockdowns landed by Adesanya in the decisive fifth round, which netted him a 10-8 scorecard from all three judges. The New Zealand-based fighter landed four knockdowns for the fight, which ties him for the third-most in a single fight in UFC history. Adesanya also attempted two submission attempts in the fifth round.
1: Takedown landed in nine attempts for Gastelum, who was only able to plant Adesanya on the canvas in the third frame.
4: Knockdowns landed by Khalil Rountree in the second round of an impressive decision verdict over Eryk Anders at light heavyweight. That ties Josh Emmett (vs. Felipe Arantes at UFC Fight Night 118) for the most ever landed in a single round of a UFC bout and the most ever for a light heavyweight bout within the Las Vegas-based promotion. Rountree’s four knockdowns also tie him for third-most in a UFC fight, regardless of weight class. Forrest Petz (UFC Fight Night 6) and Jeremy Stephens (UFC 215) hold the top spot with six knockdowns apiece.
63: Significant strikes by which Rountree outlanded Anders. Rountree landed 79 of 157 significant strikes, a 50 percent success rate. Anders was far less accurate, landing 16 of 69 attempts for a 23 percent success rate.
38: Significant leg strikes landed by Rountree. Anders failed to land a single significant strike to the legs in the contest.
38: Significant strikes landed for Dwight Grant in a split-decision triumph over Alan Jouban. By comparison, Jouban landed 24. In a fairly uneventful bout, Grant outlanded his foe 10 to 5 in round one, 13 to 9 in round two and 15 to 10 in round three.
4: Submission triumphs for Nikita Krylov, tying him with four others for the fourth most in the history of the UFC’s light heavyweight division. Reigning champion Jon Jones is first with five career triumphs via tapout.
3: Consecutive victories for Alexandre Pantoja following his first-round technical knockout victory over Wilson Reis. That ranks as the third-longest active winning streak in the UFC’s flyweight division behind only champion Henry Cejudo (four) and Jussier da Silva (four).
6: Takedowns landed in 11 attempts by Max Griffin in a majority decision victory against Zelim Imadaev. That’s a UFC career high for Griffin, who had landed a total of three takedowns in his first six Octagon appearances.
1: Majority decision in UFC competition thus far in 2019 following Griffin’s victory over Imadaev.
13: Unofficial media scorecards, of the 16 tracked by MMADecisions.com, that scored the bout between Griffin and Imdadaev as a 28-28 draw. The other three had the contest 29-27 in favor of Griffin.
0:25: Time of Khalid Taha’s knockout of Boston Salmon in their preliminary bout, making it fifth-fastest KO/TKO finish in UFC/WEC bantamweight history. The fastest such finish occurred at UFC 150, when Erik Perez knocked out Ken Stone in 17 seconds.
119: Total strikes by which Montel Jackson (160) outlanded Andre Soukhamthath (41) in their preliminary bantamweight encounter. That included a whopping 78-to-8 advantage in round three as Jackson cruised to a decision triumph.
152: Total strikes landed by Poliana Botelho in a unanimous decision victory against Lauren Mueller in a preliminary women’s flyweight contest. By comparison, Mueller landed 105. Botelho outlanded her foe 64 to 26 in round one and 47 to 31 in round two, while Mueller held a 48-to-41 edge in the final stanza.
5-16: Combined record of Randy Costa’s first four professional opponents, three of whom have winless career records. Entering his Octagon debut with a 4-0 record, the Joe Lauzon protege tapped to a rear-naked choke to Brandon Davis at the 1:12 mark of round two.