Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 131

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.

Taking the trip for the first time to Utica, New York, the Ultimate Fighting Championship brought a card that started and ended with a bang -- featuring the shocking end to a fighter’s massive win streak, the rare occurrence of two brothers competing on the same card, and a slam attempt that completely backfired.

Total number of UFC Fights: 4665
Total number of UFC Events: 440

FUN FOR FAVORITES: The first eight betting favorites to compete at UFC Fight Night 131 all won their bouts, and the night ended with 10 of the 12 competing favorites emerging victorious. The two losing favorites, Jake Ellenberger and Jimmie Rivera, were both knocked out in the first round.

‘HERMANO’ IS BROTHER IN SPANISH: Daniel and David Teymur became the ninth brother tandem to compete on the same UFC card together, joining the Alcantara, Lauzon, Miller, Montano, Nogueira, and Pettis brothers. Only the Alcantara (UFC Fight Night 36 in 2014), Miller (UFC 124 in 2010), and Pettis brothers (UFC 181 in 2014) have both won while fighting on the same card. Tyson Pedro and Tai Tuivasa (brother-in-laws) both fought and won at UFC 221 in 2018, with Tuivasa married to Pedro's sister.

A KIND OF MAGIC: In just 33 seconds, Marlon Moraes starched Jimmie Rivera with a head kick and punches, scoring the fifth fastest knockout and seventh fastest stoppage in UFC bantamweight history.

COMBO BREAKER: Coming into his bout with Moraes, Rivera was riding an incredible 20-fight win streak. That all came to an end in just 33 seconds, when Moraes handed Rivera his first career stoppage loss.

FISHING FOR A FINISH: Gregor Gillespie submitted Vinc Pichel with an arm-triangle choke, and has now finished 10 of his 12 opponents (5 knockouts, 5 submissions). The choke was his second by arm-triangle in his UFC tenure. Gillespie is now tied for the most wins by arm-triangle in UFC history with 7 other fighters (Cezar Ferreira, Eric Schafer, Francisco Trinaldo, Rani Yahya, Renan Barao, Sara McMann, and Thales Leites).

UNBLEMISHED RECORDS: Both undefeated fighters leading up to this event, Jose Torres (7-0) and Gregor Gillespie (11-0), ended their nights with their perfect records intact. Both fighters ended up finishing their opponents or capitalizing on their opponents’ mistakes in the second round.

IT’S NO SECRET: In all 11 of Walt Harris’s wins, he has knocked his opponent out. With his latest career finish now a knockout of Daniel Spitz at 4:59 of the second round, “The Big Ticket” has still never won a fight that went into the third round.

DANNY DOWNERS: Both Daniel Teymur and Spitz came into this event holding six wins with their sole losses by decision. Both fighters were finished for the first time in their respective careers, as Teymur was submitted by Julio Arce and Spitz was knocked out by Harris.

KILLA KNEE: Fan favorite and Sherdog MMA Forum member Ben Saunders recorded his 10th career knockout when he folded Ellenberger with a knee to the body. Five of those 10 knockouts have stemmed directly from Saunders’s knees.

CLOSING TIME: In his last 10 fights, Ellenberger has only won twice. He has been finished in six of those losses, and has now lost his last three fights by KO/TKO. Once known for his durability, Ellenberger was not stopped until his 33rd career fight, when Martin Kampmann finished him with knees in 2012.

D’ARCE LIFE: Pulling off the first D’Arce choke of 2018 against Johnny Eduardo, Nathaniel Wood made a triumphant debut by performing the first D’Arce choke in UFC bantamweight history. Wood became only the third fighter in UFC history to debut with a win by D’Arce choke, joining Zak Cummings and Tatiana Suarez.

WHOOPS: Knocking himself out with a slam in a fight in which he was largely in control, Jared Brooks became only the third fighter in UFC history to knock himself out with his own move, joining Matt Lindland and Gray Maynard. Matt Hughes arguably knocked himself out with a slam while facing Carlos Newton, but was controversially awarded the knockout victory.

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into this event, the UFC had never been to the city of Utica. Pichel had never been submitted (12 fights) and Brooks had never been knocked out (although he did it to himself).

WON’T HOLD HIS BODY DOWN: Gillespie has walked out to Johnny Cash’s famous cover of gospel song “Ain’t No Grave” for all five of his bouts inside the Octagon, and he has never lost with the track. Overall, recorded fighters that have walked out to “Ain’t No Grave” have a stellar record of 8-2.

NO STOP SIGNS, SPEED LIMIT: For his past five fights, “From Hell” Pichel has walked out to the appropriate “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC. Pichel suffered his first loss while accompanied by the track, having been victorious with it in his previous four outings.

IT SUITS HIM WELL: For all fifteen of Sam Alvey’s Octagon appearances, he has been accompanied by the unconventional walkout choice of “Hey, Soul Sister” by Train. It has largely proved successful for him, as Alvey sports a 10-5 record with the track.

Jay Pettry is an attorney and 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 UFC result and entrance music databases to better study the sport. You can find him on twitter at @jaypettry.