Fight Facts: UFC 237
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TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 5138
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 478
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday returned to Rio de
Janeiro for the 10th time and did so with several legends in tow.
UFC 237 featured the first female fighter to record a slam
knockout in the promotion’s history, a disappointing injury
distinction and a beloved former champion pushing his unparalleled
losing streak beyond eight years in length.
JUST LIKE THAT RIVER TWISTING THROUGH A DUSTY LAND: UFC 237 was the 10th event the promotion has held in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The only cities to host more events are London (11 events) and Las Vegas (121 events).
SHE WILL, SHE WILL ROCK YOU: Two different women -- Jessica Andrade and Viviane Araujo -- scored knockouts at this event, tying UFC 185, UFC 228 and UFC 232 for the most knockouts by female fighters at a single UFC show. This was the first card to see two clean knockouts scored by women.
‘BATE ESTACA’ LITERALLY MEANS ‘PILE DRIVER’: In knocking out Rose Namajunas to win the women’s strawweight crown, Andrade became the first fighter to capture a title with a slam since Matt Hughes knocked out Carlos Newton at UFC 34 in 2001.
WILL SLAM FOR GOLD: Andrade’s slam knockout was the fifth to take place in a championship bout and the first since Cain Velasquez defended his belt against Junior dos Santos with a slam technical knockout at UFC 166 in 2013.
YES SHE SLAM: Andrade is the first female fighter in UFC history to finish her opponent with a slam. Across other major MMA promotions, this happened at Bellator 206 in September, when Arlene Blencowe slammed Amber Leibrock. In Strikeforce, Sarah Kaufman knocked out Roxanne Modafferi with slam at Strikeforce Challengers 9 in 2010.
AND WHAT A KNOCKOUT IT WAS: Andrade’s stoppage of Namajunas was the fourth knockout in UFC’s women’s strawweight history. It was her second in the weight class, making her the only fighter to hold more than one knockout win in that division.
SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY: By winning both “Performance of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” in her battle with Namajunas, Andrade became third female fighter to earn double bonuses and the first since Holly Holm knocked out Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in 2015.
ONE-WOMAN WRECKING CREW: After picking up her 11th win inside the Octagon, Andrade now stands alone as the winningest female fighter in UFC history.
YOU SAY TOMATO, I SAY TOM-AH-TO: Cannonier’s leg kick stoppage of Silva was the ninth finish from leg kicks in promotional history.
MAN ON A MISSION: After earning a decision win over Jose Aldo, Alexander Volkanovski extended his winning streak to 17 fighters. Sixteen of the fighters on the card do not even own that many wins in their careers.
TO BE THE BEST YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE BETHE: By tapping Bethe Correia with an armbar at 3:24 of the third round, Irene Aldana secured the fifth-latest submission victory in UFC women’s divisional history.
SUPERSPANN: After smashing Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the first round, Ryan Spann has now finished his opponent in 14 of his 16 wins, including 13 of them in Round 1.
PLEASE STOP: B.J. Penn suffered his seventh consecutive loss in a decision defeat to Clay Guida, making his losing the streak the longest in UFC history. Along that stretch, he has come up short at least twice as a welterweight, lightweight and featherweight.
THIS HURTS TO WRITE: The last time Penn won a fight was in November 2010, when he knocked out Matt Hughes in their rubber match at UFC 123. When he recorded that last win, 17 of the 23 other fighters on UFC 237 had not yet made their professional MMA debuts. This includes both of the headliners and seven of the 10 athletes on the main card.
AT LEAST HE WASN’T 36: Penn made his UFC debut at UFC 31 in 2001, and along his storied 27-fight career inside the promotion, he competed at UFC 37, UFC 137 and UFC 237. He also appeared at UFC 112 and UFC Fight Night 112.
ROCKIN’ RAONI: Closing as a massive -1100 favorite against short-notice replacement Carlos Huachin (+700), Raoni Barcelos knocked out the organizational newcomer in the second round. Barcelos was the biggest UFC betting favorite since Livia Renata Souza (-1500) faced +1000 underdog Alex Chambers at UFC Fight Night 137 in September.
‘VIVI’ PACKS A PUNCH: After knocking out Talita Bernardo in the third round, Viviane Araujo has still never gone the distance in her eighth-fight career. The finish was the sixth clean knockout in UFC women’s bantamweight history and the first of those six to not receive a post-fight bonus.
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into UFC 237, Namajunas had never been knocked out (11 fights), Aldo had never lost on the scorecards (32 fights) and Correia had never been submitted (14 fights).
GO BACK TO RUN THE JEWELS: Courtesy of UFC President Dana White, Namajunas walked out to “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC and suffered a knockout loss. Fighters accompanied by “Thunderstruck” hold a winning percentage of just .304, with 11 stoppage losses.
JUST A MAN AND HIS WILL TO SURVIVE: Thiago Alves has now walked out to “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor in each of his last two fights. With Alves losing a decision to Laureano Staropoli, the song ties “300 Violin Orchestra” by Jorge Quintero for the most recorded losses of any song in UFC history with 20.
THIS WAS NEVER PART OF MY PLAN: Making his walk to the cage with “God’s Plan” by Drake playing in the Jeunesse Arena, Kurt Holobaugh lost a decision to Thiago Moises. In seven recorded uses of that track, fighters have lost six times.
NEXT TIME, BABY: Although he did not compete at this event after withdrawing the day before Carlos Diego Ferreira was slated to make his walk to the cage accompanied by Sherdog.com’s 2018 “Walkout Song of the Year”: “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins.
Sherdog contributing editor Jay Pettry is an attorney and a statistician. Writing about MMA since he started studying the “Eminem Curse” in 2012 and working 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.
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