Fight Facts: UFC 246

The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 246 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all 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.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 5,480
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 506

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday opened 2020 with a blockbuster card topped by the long-awaited return of the sport’s biggest celebrity. UFC 246 featured one of the biggest betting upsets in organizational history, a milestone for a commentator and a fighter who practically earns a post-fight bonus just by stepping in the cage.

A TRUE WORKHORSE: Play-by-play commentator Jon Anik called his 150th Ultimate Fighting Championship event at UFC 246. Only Mike Goldberg has called more events with the Las Vegas-based promotion on play-by-play, totaling 267 shows across 19 years. Comparatively, Anik has called the action with the UFC for eight years.

NOW YOU DON’T SKIMP: Five “Performance of the Night” bonuses were doled out to Conor McGregor, Alexey Oleynik, Brian Kelleher, Diego Ferreira and Drew Dober. This is the second event to feature five POTN bonuses, with this first occurring at UFC 217—although one bonus was split into two $25,000 parts for two fighters.

TAP TAP TAP: The first three bouts on the main card ended by submission, making this the first event with three consecutive tapouts on the main card since UFC 216 in 2017.

HALF-MINUTE HERO: By laying waste to Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds, McGregor became the fourth fighter in UFC history to record sub-minute finishes in multiple headlining bouts. The first to do so was Vitor Belfort, followed by Ronda Rousey and Francis Ngannou.

MONEY MCGREGOR: McGregor took home an additional $50,000 for finishing Cerrone. In his last 10 bouts, the Irishman has earned nine post-fight bonuses.

HE WAS KIND OF RIGHT: While not the first fighter to score knockouts in three separate weight classes, McGregor is the first to do so at featherweight, lightweight and welterweight.

NOTORIOUS FINISHER: McGregor earned his 20th career finish when he knocked out Cerrone, pushing his stoppage rate to 91 percent. Nineteen of those 20 have come via strikes, including 14 in the opening frame.

ISN’T ‘34’ A DAVE MATTHEWS BAND SONG?: Albeit in a losing effort, “Cowboy” made his 34th walk to the Octagon at UFC 246. He now stands alone with the most fights in UFC history, breaking a tie with Jim Miller.

HOLLY TWO-TIMES: As she did in their first meeting, Holly Holm won her rematch against Raquel Pennington by decision. Across all women’s bouts in the UFC when two female fighters faced one another more than once inside the Octagon, the winner of the first bout has won all but one. That lone exception came at UFC 191, where Jessica Andrade choked out Pennington in their second match after losing the first in 2014.

LIMB SNATCHER: Oleynik tapped Maurice Greene with an armbar in the second round of their heavyweight feature and in doing so earned his 46th career submission victory. The Russian now holds a finish rate of 93 percent.

SUB-CONTRACTOR: By submitting Greene, “The Boa Constrictor” earned his sixth tapout as a UFC heavyweight. He ties Stefan Struve for the second-most in divisional history. They both trail Frank Mir (eight).

RUSSIAN DURABILITY: Oleynik made his MMA debut in November 1996. At that time, fellow UFC 246 competitors Maycee Barber and Sabina Mazo were not yet born. His opponent Greene was 10 years old.

THE KELLETINE: In less than three minutes, Brian Kelleher hit Ode Osbourne with a guillotine choke. The last five times Kelleher has submitted an opponent, he has done so with that maneuver.

ROXY’S GOT MOXIE: Roxanne Modafferi sprang one of the largest betting upsets in UFC history as a +650 underdog when she defeated the -1000 Barber by decision. Her win ranks among other massive upsets, including +650 Khama Worthy’s knockout of Devonte Smith at UFC 241, +725 Frankie Saenz’s decision over Iuri Alcantara at UFC Fight Night 61 and +735 Johnny Eduardo’s knockout of Eddie Wineland at UFC Fight night 40.

ALL FINISHES UNTIL THE UFC: By taking a win on the scorecards against Tim Elliott, Askar Askarov advanced his undefeated record to 11-0-1. It was the first time “Bullet” has ever won a fight by judges’ decision.

WHAT IS THIS ROUND 3 NONSENSE?: By capturing a unanimous verdict against Justin Ledet, Aleksa Camur remained unbeaten as a professional. This was the first time Camur had ever competed beyond the second round.

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into UFC 246, Barber had never been defeated (eight fights), Greene had never been submitted (11 fights) and Nasrat Haqparast had never been knocked out (13 fights).

YOU’RE PLAYING SO COOL: For the third time in his UFC career, Ferreira walked out to “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins. The legendary pop musician is still undefeated as a walkout artist following Ferreira’s submission of Anthony Pettis.

NIGERIAN POWER: In all four of his Octagon appearances, Sodiq Yusuff has made his walk to the cage with “Power” by Kanye West playing behind him. He has won all four fights after his decision win over Andre Fili.

A COUNTRY BOY STILL CAN SURVIVE: Ledet made his walk to the cage accompanied by “Rodeo” by country music icon Garth Brooks and lost a decision. Ledet became the first recorded fighter in UFC history to use a Garth Brooks song.