Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 241 ‘Barboza vs. Murphy’

Jay PettryMay 20, 2024

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: 7,678
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 691

The Ultimate Fighting Championship cruised to its familiar stomping ground of the UFC Apex with a dozen pairings that brought all kinds of happenings. The action proved uneven, but a few rising talents shone when needed. UFC Fight Night 241 featured the first headbutt DQ in company history, a striker that landed her first sub and a brick-fisted 170-pounder now in rarified air.

The Opposite of UFC 301: Up and down the lineup, six bouts featured one Brazilian against a foreign adversary. Of those six competitors, only one prevailed: Ariane Carnelossi, by disqualification.

Rise to the Occasion: Lerone Murphy outworked Edson Barboza en route to a clear-cut decision victory. The fighter, again known as “The Iceman,” lifted his spotless record to 14-0 with a draw. He is one of a small crop of fighters who compete in major organizations without losing after 15 pro outings, joining names like Movlid Khaybulaev, Movsar Evloev, and Shavkat Rakhmonov.

No One’s Passing Max: Murphy scored a whopping 220 significant strikes on Barboza after 25 minutes of action. His tally is good for the fourth-most in UFC featherweight history, with Max Holloway, the record-holder of the three higher spots.

Competitively Uncompetitive: When compared to his opponent, Barboza only connected with 79 sig. strikes. This strike disparity of 141 in favor of the Brit is the third-highest at the weight class.

The Magic Number: In addition to the overwhelming number of strike lands, Murphy successfully grounded his Brazilian foe four times. No fighter has landed more than four takedowns in a match against Barboza, although all four to do so have beaten him.

Ed$on Barbo$a: While losing, Barboza took home half of the “Fight of the Night” check to earn his 13th bonus. Only seven fighters in UFC history have taken home more bonuses, but none more than Charles Oliveira’s 19.

Complete and Utter Khaos: In 90 seconds, Kalinn Williams lamped Carlston Harris with one punch. The welterweight now posts three knockouts in 90 seconds or less. “Khaos” joins Anthony Johnson and Johny Hendricks as the only ones in the weight class to pull off this feat three times.

Nothing More Needs to Be Said: Themba Gorimbo grinded his way to a win over Ramiz Brahimaj. The Fortis MMA fighter has now alternated wins and losses in his last 10 outings dating back to 2018 when he fought for the LFA.

The Boxer We Expected: Dropping Vinicius Salvador and finishing him on the ground, Adrian Yanez bounced back from his first career skid and earned his fifth knockout as a UFC bantamweight. Four 135ers have performed more: Sean O'Malley, Marlon Vera and Rob Font (six apiece) and T.J. Dillashaw (seven).

New Tricks: Pulling off the first submission of her career, Angela Hill landed a guillotine choke on Luana Pinheiro. “Overkill” snapped an 11-fight streak of consecutive decisions in the process.

Let Her Rematch Andrade: The victorious Hill set the new strawweight record for wins in the Octagon. The 39-year-old Californian broke a four-way tie with Jessica Andrade, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Carla Esparza by amassing 11 victories at 115 pounds.

The Female Donald Cerrone: Hill entered into her 24th UFC bout as a 115-pounder. This puts further distance between her and the pack, with the next closest active fighter, Tecia Pennington, with 16.

A Hill of Cash: Winning a “Performance of the Night” bonus by snaring Pinheiro, Hill earned her fifth in the division. This puts her in a tie with Weili Zhang for the fourth-most post-fight bonuses in the history of the weight class. Andrade’s nine hold the top spot.

All That Kangaroo Boxing: With a knee to the body and a few follow-up punches, Tom Nolan put Victor Martinez away in under four minutes. The Aussie has earned his last five victories via strikes, with four coming in the first round.

Never Got Under the Chin: Remaining undefeated as a pro, Oumar Sy tapped out George Tokkos with a face crank. The Bulgarian Top Team product has performed 80% of his wins inside the distance, with an equal distribution of knockouts to submissions.

Totally Legal: Courtesy of a punch to the chest, Melissa Gatto picked up the win over Tamires Vidal. The former flyweight has earned all three of her UFC wins by technical knockout, accounting for all three of the knockouts in her career.

Knock It Off: After landing two headbutts on Carnelossi, Piera Rodriguez was disqualified. Rodriguez is the first fighter in UFC history to get DQed for headbutting their opponent.

Likes Taking His Sweet Time: China’s Heili Alateng picked up the nod on all scorecards over Kleydson Rodrigues. Since joining the roster in 2019, Alateng has gone the distance in seven of those eight bouts.

Jumping into the Arms of the Recordbooks: After three rounds of action, Vanessa Demopoulos snagged a close split decision over Emily Ducote. The two combined for 252 significant strikes landed in their 15-minute encounter, which now serves as the sixth-highest quantity in UFC strawweight history.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 241, Murphy had never competed in the U.S. (14 fights), Pinheiro (13 fights) and Tokkos (13 fights) had never been submitted and Vidal had never been knocked out (nine fights).

Back to the Grind: From 2014 to 2018, Barboza continuously picked “Meus Proprios Meios” by Brazilian band Oficina G3 as his walkout tune. He returned to it in 2023, and unlike those two outings, he came up short.

Not About to See Your Light: For the first time since 2016, a fighter selected a song from Danzig. Nolan went with “Mother,” which served as the entrance music for longtime heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga. While the track does not celebrate a winning record, Nolan picked up the victory.