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TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 5,236
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 486
The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday returned to San Antonio, Texas, for the first time since 2014 and did so with a card that gave fans their money’s worth in terms of cage time. UFC on ESPN 4 featured the most decisions in company history, one of the fastest heavyweight knockouts of all-time and an old (pit) bull who is not finished yet.
LOT OF TIME ON THE CLOCK: Ten fights went the distance, tying the record for the most on a single card in UFC history. It has been set by multiple events: UFC 169, UFC Fight Night 36, UFC Fight Night 84, UFC Fight Night 101, UFC Fight Night 121 and UFC Fight Night 134.
THE ESPN CREW MUST HAVE BEEN PANICKING: The first nine fights all went the distance, breaking the record for the most consecutive decisions to begin an event. UFC Fight Night 101 in 2016 previously held the most, when each of its first eight fights ended up in the hands of the judges.
NINE IS NOT FINE: The streak of nine straight decisions tied the record set at UFC Fight Night 134 in 2018 for the most all-time. That 13-fight event only saw three stoppages.
BIG FISH IN A BIG POND: By earning a unanimous decision over Rafael dos Anjos in the main event, Leon Edwards extended his winning streak to eight fights. He is not the only ranked fighter in the welterweight division with an impressive unbeaten streak, as champion Kamaru Usman (10), Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (seven), Santiago Ponzinibbio (seven) and Colby Covington (six) all have won at least their last five bouts.
SPEAK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG TICKET: By putting away Alexey Oleynik in 12 seconds, Walt Harris picked up the third-fastest finish in UFC heavyweight history. Only Todd Duffee’s seven-second finish of Tim Hague and Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s recent nine-second knockout of Allen Crowder came quicker.
HIGH-FLYING HARRIS: Harris finished Oleynik with a flying knee and follow-up punches, scoring the second flying knee knockout in UFC heavyweight history. Tai Tuivasa authored the first when he knocked out Rashad Coulter at UFC Fight Night 121 in 2017.
HE IS THE ONE WHO KNOCKS (THEM OUT): All 13 of Harris’ career victories have come by knockout within two rounds.
A MATTER OF FORMALITIES: Greg Hardy finished Juan Adams with punches in the first round. All five of Hardy’s victories have come by first-round knockout.
HANG ’EM HIGH: After finishing James Vick in Round 1, all but one of Dan Hooker’s 18 career wins have come by stoppage. Since beating Yuma Ishizuka by unanimous decision in 2011, each of his last 13 wins has ended with a finish.
DEEP-WATER SWIMMER: Andrei Arlovski defeated Ben Rothwell by decision, meaning each of his last eight fights has gone the distance. Prior to this streak, no more than three consecutive bouts for “The Pit Bull” had reached the scorecards.
NOT SO NEW, BUT IMPROVED: Arlovski picked up his 17th victory inside the UFC, breaking a tie with Frank Mir for the most in heavyweight divisional history.
WHAT VERSION IS HE NOW?: This marked the 30th time Arlovski had entered the Octagon, extending his record for the most fights by a UFC heavyweight. He also became the sixth fighter to ever compete 30 times under the UFC banner. Only he and Mir have more than 25 UFC fights as heavyweights.
LOTS OF FAITH IN THE JUDGES: By going the distance with Rothwell, Arlovski has now gone to the judges more times (11) than any other fighter in the heavyweight division’s storied history.
REDOUBTABLE ROXANNE: Jennifer Maia weighed in three pounds over the flyweight limit when she faced Roxanne Modafferi. Opting to take the bout, Modafferi became the second female fighter in UFC history to ever face off against multiple opponents who have missed weight. Alex Chambers was the first, and both lost each of their respective outings against their heavier counterparts.
THAT KOREAN ZOMBIE TEAM: Mario Bautista and Jin Soo Son engaged in a “Fight of the Night”-winning brawl, which was won by Bautista via decision. With the loss, Son becomes the first male fighter -- and third overall, joining Miesha Tate and Cortney Casey -- to lose his first two outings but still earn “Fight of the Night” honors in each of them. Of note, before facing Petr Yan, Son missed weight, so Yan was awarded both halves of the bonus money.
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into UFC on ESPN 4, Adams had never been finished (six fights), Klidson Abreu had never won on the scorecards (17 fights) and Gabriel Silva had never been defeated (eight fights).
DO THE PERFECT CAST!: Adams walked out to a unique choice of “I 2 I” from the fictional artist Powerline off the soundtrack from “A Goofy Movie,” as performed by Tevin Campbell and Rosie Gaines. Although Adams gave an intriguing reason for selecting the song, he was unsuccessful in his bout against Hardy.
I NEED A MINUTE TO MYSELF: Although not the first to ever use a song from the legendary band Stemm, Modafferi is the first recorded fighter since 2006 to do so. She is, however, the first to have the unofficial UFC theme song “Face the Pain” play her out. She did not end her night with a win.
Sherdog contributing editor Jay Pettry is an attorney and a statistician. Writing about MMA since he started studying the “Eminem Curse” in 2012 and working 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.