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The former featherweight champion put on a show in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first event on network television in more than two years, as he routed Kattar for five rounds in the UFC on ABC 1 headliner at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. After back-to-back losses to Alexander Volkanovski in 145-pound title bouts, “Blessed” looks refreshed and ready to jump right back into the championship fray following a lopsided unanimous decision triumph. He also rewrote the record book in a memorable opener to the UFC’s 2021 campaign.
Here is a by-the-numbers look at UFC on ABC 1, with statistics courtesy of UFCStats.com.
763: Days since the UFC’s last appearance on network television, when Al Iaquinta took a five-round verdict over Kevin Lee in the UFC on Fox 31 headliner on Dec. 15, 2018. On Saturday, the promotion made its first-ever appearance on ABC for a five-bout main card that was simulcast on ESPN+.
445: Significant strikes landed by Holloway, a UFC record regardless of weight class. “Blessed” outlanded his foe 56 to 24 in Round 1, 89 to 20 in Round 2, 75 to 29 in Round 3, 141 to 34 in Round 4 and 84 to 26 in Round 5. Perhaps even more impressive, Holloway’s 445 significant strikes would set the record for most combined significant strikes in a UFC bout, and his 141 in the fourth round is the most in a single frame.
744: Significant strikes attempted by Holloway. That obliterates the previous promotional record of 541 set by Colby Covington against Robbie Lawler at UFC on ESPN 5.
274: Significant head strikes landed by Holloway. Kattar, meanwhile, landed 99 significant head strikes. Holloway also held a 117-to-16 advantage in significant body strikes and a 54-to-18 edge in significant leg strikes. The head and body strikes landed are also UFC records for a single fight.
578: Combined significant strikes landed by Holloway and Kattar, a record for a single UFC bout. Other combined records for a UFC fight set on Saturday include: significant strike attempts (1,027), total strikes landed (581), total strikes attempted (1,030).
22: Total point difference on the three scorecards (50-43, 50-43, 50-42) for Holloway vs. Kattar. According to MMADecisions.com, that ties it with Rich Franklin vs. David Loiseau (UFC 58) for the most lopsided differential on a trio of scorecards for a five-round fight.
24: UFC appearances without suffering a knockdown for Holloway, a promotional record. That figure becomes even more impressive considering Holloway has been involved in five bouts that have gone a full five rounds.
2,805: Career total strikes landed by Holloway. Thanks to his overwhelming effort at UFC on ABC 1, “Blessed” surpassed Georges St. Pierre (2,591) for the top spot in that category.
157: Total strikes landed by Carlos Condit in a unanimous decision triumph over Matt Brown in the welterweight co-main event. By comparison, Brown landed just 37. Condit also held a 39-to-28 advantage in significant strikes landed. Much of the action was contested in grappling exchanges on the canvas, where “The Natural Born Killer” was more active with his offense.
2,592: Days since Condit vs. Brown was initially booked at UFC on Fox 9 in December 2013. The bout fell through once more at UFC on Fox 29 before the two action fighters finally came together in the Octagon on Saturday.
7: Knockout victories in UFC competition for Jingliang Li. That ties him with Matt Hughes for the fourth most in the history of the welterweight division. Only Matt Brown (11), Thiago Alves (eight) and Vicente Luque (eight) have more. “The Leech” spoiled Santiago Ponzinibbio’s return from a lenghty layoff with a first-round KO victory.
4: Knockdowns landed by Punahele Soriano in his first two Octagon appearances, knockouts of Oskar Piechota and Dusko Todorovic. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum floored Todorovic twice en route to a stoppage at the 4:48 mark of Round 1 of their middleweight encounter on Saturday afternoon.
16: Unofficial media scorecards, of the 20 tracked by MMADecisions.com, that awarded the heavyweight fight between Justin Tafa and Carlos Felipe to Tafa. However, judges Lukasz Bosacki and Paul Sutherland submitted 29-28 scorecards in favor of Felipe, giving the Brazilian a split-decision triumph.
86: Significant strikes landed by Tafa. Felipe, meanwhile, landed 77. Tafa outlanded his foe 26 to 9 in Round 1, while Felipe outlanded his foe 35 to 34 in Round 2 and 33 to 26 in Round 3. Tafa also held a 109-to-77 edge in total strikes landed.
6: Consecutive UFC fights to go the distance for Ramazan Emeev, who took a split verdict over David Zawada in a welterweight prelim. Emeev is 5-1 in those bouts, with his lone loss coming at the hands of Anthony Rocco Martin at UFC Fight Night 163.
269: Combined missed strikes for Vanessa Melo (113) and Sarah Moras (156) in their bantamweight clash. Melo, who landed at a 33 percent rate, emerged with a unanimous decision triumph. Moras connected on 22 percent of her significant strikes in defeat.
17: Takedowns successfully defended by Austin Lingo in a unanimous decision victory over Jacob Kilburn in a preliminary featherweight bout. Kilburn landed his lone takedown of the contest in Round 2.
95: Significant strikes landed by Lingo, including 44 in an opening stanza in which he dropped Kilburn early in the round. By comparison, Kilburn landed 64 significant strikes.