Fight Facts: UFC on ESPN 12

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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: 5651
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 521

The Ultimate Fighting Championship ended its current stretch at the UFC Apex with Frank Mir Curse.”

SEE YOU SOON, APEX: The next UFC event will take place on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This string of five cards in the same building of the UFC Apex is the longest such stretch in company history, although the promotion is intending on returning to the Apex after a four-show residency on Yas Island.

BUT THE SMALL CAGE: Each of the five UFC main events held in the Apex has reached the scorecards. This is the longest consecutive string of headliners to go the distance since a span of five cards from UFC 122 in November 2010 to UFC 125 in January 2011.

NO STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Across the 55 bouts held inside the smaller cage of the Apex, fighters posted a finish rate of 52.7 percent. Despite fighters getting five feet less in radius to compete, this rate is marginally lower than the overall average prior to the last five events (53.7 percent).

TAPPING AFTER 10: All four of the tapouts at this event came in Round 3. Only one other UFC card has seen this many submissions in the third frame: UFC Fight Night 89 in 2016.

EVERYBODY’S GOTTA LOSE SOMETIME: Two fighters came into this event with unblemished records: Kyle Daukaus (9-0) and Sean Woodson (7-0). Neither man ended the night with his spotless record intact.

GUARANTEED ACTION: Winning a thrilling decision over Dan Hooker, both Hooker and Dustin Poirier earned “Fight of the Night” for their battle. In Poirier’s last eight bouts, “The Diamond” has pocketed six post-fight bonuses.

THE FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLAR MAN: The FOTN for Poirier is his seventh on the UFC roster, putting him in a tie with five other fighters for the second-most in promotional history. Only Nate Diaz (eight) has taken home more.

WE LOVE OUR CURSES: With Hooker losing, each of the five men to beat Paul Felder have lost their next bout. Edson Barboza, Ross Pearson, Francisco Trinaldo, Mike Perry and now Hooker have all been defeated after a win over “The Irish Dragon.”

DON’T BLAME IT ON THE CORNER: Although Perry started his career at 9-0 with 9 knockouts, by taking a decision over Mickey Gall, “Platinum” has not finished a fight since 2017 – a span of eight bouts.

OLEYNIK RUBBED OFF ON HIM: Although over 70 arm-triangle chokes have been secured throughout UFC history, none have been landed the way Maurice Greene submitted Gian Villante while on his back.

ALL-IN FOR 15: Needing 15 full minutes to beat Daukaus in a back-and-forth scrap, Brendan Allen’s decision win is just the second of his career. The win lowered the Roufusport product’s finish rate to 87 percent.

TEN FOR “TEN” : Smashing short-notice newcomer in under a minute, Takashi Sato boosted his stoppage rate to 81 percent with his quick knockout. Ten of his 13 career finishes have now come in the opening stanza.

JUICY UPSET: On late-notice in a catchweight against an unbeaten Woodson, a +400 Julian Erosa returned for his third UFC stint to snag a brabo choke of Woodson. Erosa’s upset ranks as the second-highest this year inside the Octagon, trailing only Roxanne Modafferi’s unexpected triumph over the -1000 Maycee Barber.

EVERY KAREER BEGINS WITH KAY: The 20-year-old Kay Hansen made her debut on this card against Jinh Yu Frey, and she is now the youngest female fighter signed to the UFC roster. She is not the youngest all-time, as Barber holds that top spot, joining the UFC at just under 20 years and six months of age. Hansen will turn 21 at the beginning of August.

THINK OF ALL THAT EXPERIENCE: With her armbar of Frey coming in the third frame, all but one of Hansen’s career finishes have come in Round 3. Her career debut against Emilee King ended in 90 seconds, also via armbar.

AN ARGUMENT FOR MORE WEIGHT CLASSES? Five of the last six bouts to take place outside of standard weight classes, now including Erosa’s submission of Woodson at a 150-pound catchweight, earned the victor post-fight bonus money.

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into UFC on ESPN 12, Villante (28 fights), Pena (10 fights) and Frey (13 fights) had never been submitted; Youssef Zalal had never won consecutive decisions (10 fights) and Frey had never competed above 108 pounds.

HE PAID THE COST TO BE THE BOSS: For his last six bouts, Poirier has walked out to “The Boss” by James Brown. Of those six, he has won five, with the lone defeat coming to champ Khabib Nurmagomedov.

YOUR MIND TRICKS WILL NOT WORK ON ME: In an effort to wage psychological warfare on his opponent, Hooker selected one of Poirier’s old walkout songs: “I Don’t Get Tired” by Kevin Gates featuring August Alsina. Hooker did not succeed, losing a spirited decision to “The Diamond.”

FREEDOM FROM A PERFECT RECORD: Daukaus made his first walk to the Octagon with “Philadelphia Freedom” by Elton John playing behind him. He is the third recorded UFC fighter to use an Elton John song, and the first to select this specific track.