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.
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 4,878
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 457
The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday traveled to Argentina for the first time, as UFC Fight Night 140 thrilled the home crowd and fans worldwide. The event featured a staggering streak involving recent headliners, the most active featherweight in company history and the impressive debut of a gigantic Brazilian finisher.
JETSETTER JOE: Having made his promotional debut at UFC on FX 6 in December 2012, Joe Martinez called his 25th UFC event at UFC Fight Night 140. In those events, Martinez has announced in 12 different countries across five continents and in seven different U.S. states.
INEQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION: Two big knockouts earned “Performance of the Night” bonuses on a night when four submissions were executed. Across the last 13 awarded “Performance of the Night” bonuses, 10 have gone to knockouts.
DECIDING FACTOR: Starting the night off with four straight decisions, UFC Fight Night 140 is the first event in almost exactly one year to begin with four bouts going the distance. That last occurred at UFC Fight Night 121 in Australia on Nov. 18, 2017.
SLAIN EVENT: With Santiago Ponzinibbio knocking out Neil Magny in the fourth round, each of the last 12 UFC main events have ended by stoppage. Across those 12 bouts, 11 post-fight bonuses have been awarded, with Ponzinibbio earning a “Performance of the Night” bonus for his victory.
HOMETOWN HEROES: Argentina became the 24th country beyond the U.S. to which the UFC has traveled over the years, and according to my esteemed colleague Ben Duffy, the organization has put home-country fighters in the main event of debut cards six times. Five of those home-country fighters have won: Georges St. Pierre at UFC 83 in Canada, Alexander Gustafsson at UFC on Fuel TV 2 in Sweden, Alistair Overeem at UFC Fight Night 87 in the Netherlands, Alexey Oleynik at UFC Fight Night 136 in Russia and Ponzinibbio in Argentina. The only home fighter to lose while headlining the first event in his country was James Te Huna, who lost to Nate Marquardt at UFC Fight Night 43 in New Zealand.
COUNT WITH US: Although he stopped Darren Elkins in the third round, Ricardo Lamas has won eight fights by decision. He now celebrates six knockout and five submission victories. Of his losses, four have come by knockout and three by decision. With this win, Lamas now has two stoppages coming from his elbows and one third-round stoppage win to his credit.
EAGER ELKINS: By appearing for the 18th time at featherweight, Elkins has competed in the division more than any other fighter in UFC history, breaking a tie -- at least for the next three weeks -- with champion Max Holloway.
COLLATERAL DAMAGE: Elkins’ third-round knockout loss to Lamas marked the first time in his 31-fight career that he has dropped back-to-back fights.
SMOOTH FINISH: After flattening Khalil Rountree with a brutal elbow, Johnny Walker has now finished his opponent in 14 of his 15 victories, including 12 in the first round.
ATTACHED IS MY RESUME: When he tapped Yuta Sasaki at 2:18 of the first round, Alexandre Pantoja picked up the fifth-fastest submission win in UFC flyweight history.
NECK AND NECK: When he lost by rear-naked choke to Pantoja, Sasaki became the first fighter in UFC history to alternate wins and losses by rear-naked choke in four straight fights. All 12 of Sasaki’s career submission victories have come by that type of choke.
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into UFC Fight Night 140, Ponzinibbio had never fought beyond the third round (29 fights), Poliana Botelho had never been stopped (eight fights), and Rountree had never been knocked out (10 fights).
NO REGERTS: In each of Magny’s last 13 Octagon appearances, he has walked out to Christian hip hop artist Lecrae’s “No Regrets.” With the song, he has a solid record of 9-4, although he has been stopped in all four of those losses.
I WISH I HAD NO BONES!: Elkins’ last eight bouts have been accompanied by his own theme music of “Get Ready” by friend and rapper E13. He has won six of those eight fights.
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.