Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 179

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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.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 5,820
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 536

The Ultimate Fighting Championship put on a show for the ages with UFC Fight Night 179. When the dust settled, multiple contenders for “Knockout of the Year” emerged. This high-intensity event featured not one but two incredibly rare spinning kick knockouts, a bevy of unbeaten fighters getting besmirched and a few finishers boosting their sky-high stoppage rates with huge wins.

Like the Top in Inception: UFC Fight Night 179 is first event in company history to feature multiple spinning kick knockouts. While UFC Fight Night 144 in 2019 displayed a pair of spinning knockouts, Johnny Walker dispatched Justin Ledet with a spinning back fist while Said Nurmagomedov utilized a spinning back kick to get the job done against Ricardo Ramos.

No 0 is Safe: Five undefeated fighters came into this event – Omar Morales, Impa Kasanganay, Rodrigo Nascimento Ferreira, K.B. Bhullar and Ilia Topuria. Only Topuria emerged from this card with his spotless record intact.

Symphony of Destruction: This event is the first since UFC 245 in 2019 to feature at least six stoppages without a single one coming by submission.

Like a Sand Spinner Toy: Cory Sandhagen put Marlon Moraes away with a spinning wheel kick in the second round, becoming the ninth fighter in promotional history to score a knockout with this strike – although some of these knockouts were classified as hook kicks or heel kicks. He is the first fighter under the lightweight division to do so.

Endless Edson: It took the full 15 minutes for Edson Barboza to beat Makwan Amirkhani, snapping a three-fight losing streak and earning his first decision win since July 2016. Only four of the 25 other fighters on the card including Barboza’s opponent were on the UFC roster at that time.

Pretorian Power: Dricus Du Plessis made his triumphant Octagon debut by knocking Markus Perez out cold in the first round. All 15 of the South African’s wins have come by stoppage, with eight coming in the opening frame.

Bright British Brawler: Win or lose, Tom Aspinall has still yet to encounter the judges. All nine of his career wins have come in the first round, with this 95 second victory over Alan Boudot the longest he needed to win a fight. Both of his past defeats came in Round 2.

Yet Another Unbeaten Brave CF Prospect: For the first time in his still perfect career, Topuria won on the scorecards. The Spaniard’s previous eight wins all came inside the distance.

They Call Him the Breese: Tom Breese dropped Bhullar with a jab and finished him with follow-up hammerfists to record an early knockout. Eleven of Breese’ 12 wins have ended inside the distance, with 10 in the first two rounds.

A Kid from Philly: Needing just 45 seconds – his fastest career finish – to take out Ferreira, Chris Daukaus lifted his finish rate to 90 percent with his stoppage from strikes. All of his wins inside the distance have come by knockout.

Locked Down “KOTY”: While Joaquin Buckley is the fourth fighter to win a fight with a spinning back kick to the face, he is the first to put an opponent out cleanly. Renan Barao, Uriah Hall and Magomed Mustafaev’s spinning back kick knockouts landing to the head all resulted in technical knockouts.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 179, Perez had never been finished (15 fights), Topuria had never competed beyond the second round (eight fights) and Bruno Silva had never lost consecutive bouts (17 fights).

He Got the Loot: Even though Notorious B.I.G. is one of the most frequently used walkout artists in the UFC, Sandhagen is the first recorded fighter in organization history to select “Gimme the Loot.” Sandhagen earned his biggest win and also a $50,000 post-fight bonus for his efforts.

Could’ve Used a Few Pounds: Bhullar is the second fighter in recorded UFC walkout music history to made his walk accompanied by a Bob Seger song. The Canadian selected “Night Moves” – a first – and lost by knockout.