Fight Facts: UFC 231

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and Octagon oddities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

* * *

UFC 231 is now available on Amazon Prime.

TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 4,928
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 461

Returning to Toronto for the first time since 2016, the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday brought an exciting championship doubleheader to Hogtown. UFC 231 featured a slew of records broken by the main event winner, another shining example of why cutting weight is overrated and a few unstoppable walkout songs.

ALL ABOARD THE BLESSED EXPRESS!: By beating Brian Ortega, Max Holloway extended his winning streak to 13 fights inside the Octagon, tying him for the second-longest such streak of all-time with Georges St. Pierre, Jon Jones and Demetrious Johnson. They all trail Anderson Silva, who won 16 consecutive UFC bouts.

KING OF THE CASTLE: Holloway’s bout was his 18th at featherweight, tying Darren Elkins for the most appearances in divisional history. With the win, he also set or extended the following records in his division: most wins (15), most finishes (10) and most knockouts (eight). He also tied Cub Swanson for most post-fight bonuses (seven).

TIP OF THE HAT: According to Fightmetric, Holloway landed 307 total strikes on Ortega. All four of the other victors on the main card landed 306 strikes combined. Additionally, Holloway landed 290 significant strikes on Ortega, the most of any fighter in a single bout in UFC history.

BONUS BLESSED: By earning double bonuses in the form of “Fight of the Night” and “Performance of the Night” honors, Holloway became the second fighter in 2018 -- Yair Rodriguez was the other -- to win two bonuses after a victory. He also became the fifth fighter to win double bonuses in a title fight, joining Silva, Ronda Rousey, T.J. Dillashaw and Holly Holm. Silva achieved that feat twice.

RAIDING THE T-CITY: Holloway became the first fighter to ever defeat Ortega, who was 14-0 with a no-contest coming into the bout.

I’M ENDING IT NOW: Right before the fourth-round began, Holloway claimed he would finish the fight in that stanza. He finished Ortega by doctor stoppage at the end of the fourth round. The bout was the fifth to end courtesy of the cageside physician or a fighter’s corner in the fourth round or later.

SOMEBODY GET ME A DOCTOR: In forcing the doctor to intervene between the fourth and fifth rounds, Holloway earned the first doctor stoppage victory in a championship bout since B.J. Penn’s win over Diego Sanchez at UFC 107 in 2009.

GOT YOU: A winner of three decisions over Joanna Jedrzejczyk in amateur muay Thai competition, Shevchenko again went the distance with her Polish rival in the co-main event. As a result, she has now defeated Jedrzejczyk four times in combat sports.

SHOOT TO THRILL: After tapping Alex Oliveira with a rear-naked choke, Gunnar Nelson has finished his opponent in 16 of his 17 wins (93 percent). All but one of his victories inside the Octagon have come by submission, with a lone decision win over Jorge Santiago at UFC on Fuel TV 7 in 2013.

BOMBS AT YOUR MOMS: Former middleweight Thiago Santos stopped Jimi Manuwa in a “Performance of the Night”-winning slugfest and earned his 10th knockout inside the Octagon. The finish tied him with Chuck Liddell, Michael Bisping, Derrick Lewis and Cain Velasquez for the fourth-most knockouts in UFC history. Anderson Silva and Anthony Johnson each hold 11, and Vitor Belfort stands atop the list with 12.

SPLIT EYE SOUP: After winning a split decision over Katlyn Chookagian, Jessica Eye has gone to a split decision four times in her UFC career -- more than any other female fighter. Additionally, Eye originally won a split decision over Sarah Kaufman at UFC 166, but the result was overturned to a no-contest when Eye tested positive for marijuana.

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into UFC 231, Kyle Nelson had never been finished (13 fights), Matthew Lopez had never lost on the scorecards (13 fights) and Olivier Aubin-Mercier had never lost consecutive bouts (14 fights).

A KICKBOXER FROM HAWAII: In his last 13 bouts, Holloway has walked out to “Hawaiian Kickboxer” by Moke Boy. Holloway has won all 13 while accompanied by the song, earning 10 stoppages along the way.

GO LET IT GO: Walking out to “X Gon’ Give It to Ya” by DMX from the “Exit Wounds” soundtrack for the seventh time, Ortega suffered his first loss with the track. Fighters to walk out to the track still hold an impressive record of 6-1 with one no-contest.

NOW HE’S GOTTA CUT LOOSE: Making his second walk to the Octagon with “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins playing in the arena, Carlos Diego Ferreira has won both bouts by knockout. Every recorded fighter to ever walk out to a Kenny Loggins song has won inside the UFC.

SING-ALONG: Eryk Anders created his own walkout song with the help of xEGAN Music, titled “Pressure Make a Pipe Bust.” He was unsuccessful debuting that song, losing a close split decision to Elias Theodorou.

Jay Pettry is an attorney and a statistician. Writing about MMA since he started studying the “Eminem Curse” in 2012, and writing for Vice Sports and Combat Docket along the way, he put together many fight result and entrance music databases to better study the sport. You can find him on Twitter at @jaypettry.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.