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The Sanford MMA representative gradually took control against the highly-touted prospect in the UFC Fight Night 173 main event, ultimately earning a technical knockout victory 26 seconds into Round 3 of their middleweight encounter at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. The rejuvenated Brunson has won three straight fights in the Las Vegas-based promotion, while Shahbazyan tasted defeat for the first time in 12 professional appearances.
Here is a by-the-numbers look at UFC Fight Night 173, with statistics courtesy of UFCStats.com.
8: Finishes in UFC competition for Brunson, tying him with Thiago Santos and Ronaldo Souza for the fourth most in the history of the middleweight division. Only Anderson Silva (11), Chris Leben (nine) and Nate Marquardt (nine) have more.
88: Significant strikes landed by Brunson, including a whopping 54-to-11 advantage in Round 2 when he nearly finished Shahbazyan with ground-and-pound before the horn. Brunson landed five more significant strikes in Round 3, forcing referee Herb Dean to halt the bout. Shahbazyan landed 35 significant strikes in defeat.
4: Takedowns landed in three attempts by Brunson. The North Carolina native also passed guard three times in the bout and held a 26-to-0 advantage in significant ground strikes.
1,757: Days since Jennifer Maia’s last finish, a first-round TKO of Marta Souza at Samurai FC 12 “Hearts on Fire” on Oct. 10, 2015. Maia’s next eight bouts, which resulted in six wins and two defeats -- all went to the judges, including her first four UFC appearances. That streak ended with a first-round armbar of Joanne Calderwood in the UFC on ESPN 14 co-main event.
9: Fighters in UFC history to have succumbed to armbar submissions twice in the Octagon. On Saturday, Calderwood joined a group that includes Kevin Jackson, Eugene Jackson, Matt Hughes, Ryan Jensen, Ryan Thomas, Jeremy Stephens, Tamdan McCrory and Alex Chambers.
11: Finishes for Luque in UFC competition. That is the third most in the welterweight division behind only Matt Brown (13) and Matt Hughes (12). Luque defeated Randy Brown via TKO at the 4:56 mark of Round 2 in a featured 170-pound clash.
8: KO/TKO victories in the Octagon for Luque. That ties him with Thiago Alves for second-most in UFC welterweight history behind only Brown (11).
10: Career knockdowns for Luque, tying him with Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson for third most among all UFC welterweights. Alves is first with 13, while Jake Ellenberger is second with 11. Luque floored Brown twice in their bout.
26: Significant leg strikes landed by Luque, who landed 64 significant strikes overall. Brown, meanwhile, landed 13 significant leg strikes and 61 total significant strikes in defeat.
115: Significant strikes landed by Bobby Green in a three-round verdict over Lando Vannata at lightweight. That’s the most Green has landed in 13 career UFC appearances. Green outlanded Vannata 35 to 29 in Round 1, 34 to 12 in Round 2 and 46 to 13 in Round 3.
123: Combined significant strike advantage for Green in his last two Octagon appearances, decision wins over Vannata and Clay Guida.
3: Knockdowns landed by Jonathan Martinez in a third-round TKO triumph against Frankie Saenz. That ties him with four others for the most knockdowns landed in a UFC bantamweight fight.
52: Significant strikes landed by Martinez in a dominant second round in which he floored Saenz twice and appeared to be on the verge of a finish. Martinez held a 79-to-39 advantage in significant strikes overall en route to a stoppage 57 seconds into Round 3.
158: Total strikes landed by Joseph Nathan Maness in a unanimous decision triumph over Johnny Munoz Jr. at featherweight. By comparison, Munoz landed 129 total strikes. After a rough opening stanza, Maness outlanded his foe 66 to 33 in Round 2 and 80 to 45 in Round 3.
14: Takedowns successfully defended by Maness over three rounds. Munoz landed just two of his 16 attempts in the fight.
1: Unanimous draw in UFC history that didn’t involve a point deduction, according to MMADecisions.com. Chris Gutierrez vs. Cody Durden earned a trio of 28-28 scorecards in the evening’s opening bout.
269: UFC events since 2014. During that time, only eight events featured nine or fewer bouts. Saturday’s card, after a late positive COVID-19 test for Gerald Meerschaert and a fainting episode backstage from Trevin Giles, featured eight bouts.
2,163: Days since the last time a UFC event had just eight bouts. Prior to Saturday, UFC 177, headlined by a makeshift bantamweight title bout between T.J. Dillashaw and Joe Soto, was the last card with eight fights on the bill.