Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 225 ‘Holloway vs. Korean Zombie’
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 EVENTS: 661
The Ultimate Fighting Championship cruised to Singapore and made the most of its early morning show and then some. Knockouts littered the early part of the lineup until a series of decisions led to several punctuating moments. Emotions were high, mistakes were made. UFC Fight Night 225 featured an addition to a late stoppage record that may not be topped, a pair of finishers that somehow made it to the final bell and a man that has been wrecked by two brothers in one year.
Max Is a Jedi: Max
Holloway remains the winningest featherweight in company
history by blasting Chan Sung
Jung in the third round. His 20 victories put further distance
between himself and the next closest men: Cub Swanson
(14) and Darren
Elkins (16).
Double Derrick Lewis: Holloway earned his eighth stoppage on the roster that came after the 10-minute mark. He adds to his total for the most finishes in Round 3 or later in UFC history. His six knockouts beyond the second round are now tied with Yoel Romero for the most all-time.
Couldn’t Let His Hands Go: When the dust settled, Holloway landed 75 significant strikes on “The Korean Zombie” after two rounds and 23 seconds. This checks in as his lowest total since he faced Jeremy Stephens in 2015 and connected 57 times, with 13 bouts separating those two appearances.
For Hawaii: For the ninth time as a 145-pounder, Holloway scored a knockout. He now holds three more stoppages due to strikes than Swanson, Chad Mendes and Conor McGregor, who are tied for second. He also has 11 finishes, which are good for four more than Ricardo Lamas’ seven.
More Hawaiian Punches in Bunches: En route to the stoppage, Holloway dropped “The Korean Zombie” twice. This puts his featherweight total at 10, which is now one behind Stephens and Josh Emmett’s co-lead of 11 each.
Guaranteed Violence Did Just That: Holloway and Jung pocketed $50,000 checks for their raucous battle. This put Holloway’s total to 10, the most in divisional history. Meanwhile, the South Korean’s ninth tied him with Swanson and Yair Rodriguez for the second most.
The Rematch No One Needed: After three close rounds, Anthony Smith picked up the decision nod over Ryan Spann in their rematch. This marks just the third decision win in a 55-fight career for “Lionheart.”
The Squash Match No One Wanted: Dominating Fernie Garcia to pick up a decision, Rinya Nakamura boosted his undefeated record to 8-0. His finish rate dropped to 75% as he went the distance for the second time as a pro.
The Title Eliminator Everyone Needed to See: Since joining the UFC in 2021, Erin Blanchfield has rattled off six straight wins at flyweight. Her most recent triumph – a decision over Taila Santos – put her tied for the sixth-most wins in divisional history, with Valentina Shevchenko and Katlyn Chookagian’s nine sharing the lead.
You Know Who He Is: In 84 seconds, Junior Tafa decked Parker Porter to earn his fifth pro win. All five of the victories for “The Juggernaut” have come by knockout, with four of those taking place in Round 1.
Bro! Bro? BRO!! Back in February, Justin Tafa knocked out Porter, and his brother Junior repeated the feat six-plus months later. Porter earns the extremely rare distinction of losing to a pair of brothers, joining the likes of Josh Neer (the Diaz Brothers), Dan Henderson (the Nogueira brothers), Hiromitsu Kanehara (the Overeem brothers), as well as Masakatsu Funaki and Bas Rutten (the Shamrock brothers).
Put Arm to Field: Late in the first round, Garrett Armfield put Toshiomi Kazama away with strikes. His finish elevated his overall stoppage rate to 89%, having dispatched seven foes in the opening frame.
Actual Polish Power: Michal Oleksiejczuk stopped Chidi Njokuani with a swarm of punches in Round 1 to lift his finish rate to 79%. With six first-round knockouts on his UFC ledger this far, only eight men in the history of the organization have performed more.
You’re the Piano Man: For the second time in his last three wins, Kenan Song picked up a win on the scorecards, as he outworked Rolando Bedoya. These two decisions account for two-thirds of his career total.
The Might of Groton: After 11 pro fights, Billy Goff has won seven of those by knockout, following his UFC debut stoppage of Yusaku Kinoshita. His rate of victory via strikes sits at 78%, and he has neither won nor lost a bout via submission to date.
Back to WLF You Go: Until Saturday, J.J. Aldrich had not won a UFC fight via stoppage, with her previous seven victories in the Octagon coming at the hands of the judges. Her knockout of Na Liang is her first finish since she defeated Kathina Lowe back in September 2016.
Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 225, Smith had never prevailed by split decision (36 wins, 54 fights), Blanchfield had never competed outside of the U.S. (12 fights) and Santos (21 fights), Kazama (13 fights) Bedoya (16 fights), Kinoshita (eight fights) and Jarno Errens (18 fights) had never lost consecutive bouts.
Your Song Title May Vary: In 10 of his last 11 outings, Smith has walked out to the cage accompanied by “Return of the Mack” by Mark Morrison. “Lionheart” shed that walkout tune and switched it up to “Real Compton City G’s” by Eazy-E, and subsequently returned to the win column.
Midnight Angel, Won’t You Say You Will: Rocking “Shadows of the Night” as he entered the Octagon, Billy Goff became the first male UFC fighter to ever choose Pat Benatar as his walkout artist. Felice Herrig, Tecia Torres and Jessica-Rose Clark all picked the rock legend for previous entrances.
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