Fight Facts: UFC 255

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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: 5,885
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 542

The Ultimate Fighting Championship staged a pay-per-view with twin flyweight title fights, where both champs kept tight grips on their belts. The oddly paced event brought forth some rising stars while also putting dominant forces on display. UFC 255 featured the first pair of sisters to compete on a UFC card together, one of the biggest betting favorites in years and the possible end of an era for a legend in the sport.

Sisters, Sisters: UFC 255 is the first event in promotional history to feature two sisters on the same card. Both Valentina Shevchenko and Antonina Shevchenko won their fights, making them the first pair of sisters to win at the same UFC event, as well.

There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters: The Shevchenkos are not the first pair of siblings to both appear on a card together an emerge victorious. This previously happened at UFC 181 in 2014, when Anthony Pettis and Sergio Pettis both competed and prevailed.

New Lord of the Flies: Deiveson Figueiredo tied Demetrious Johnson for the most finishes in UFC flyweight history with seven by tapping out Alex Perez. It took Johnson 14 bouts in the division to reach that mark, while Figueiredo accomplished it in just 10 trips to the Octagon.

He Said He Was Moving to Bantamweight Soon: The win was Figueiredo’s ninth among bouts scheduled at flyweight. In victory, he tied former foe Jussier Formiga for the third-most in divisional history. Johnson and Benavidez are tied for the top spot with 13 each.

A Diminutive God of War: Choking out Perez in just 1:57 into the first round, “Deus da Guerra” notched the second-quickest finish in UFC flyweight championship history. Only Henry Cejudo’s 32-second drubbing of T.J. Dillashaw at UFC Fight Night 143 in 2019 came quicker.

The First of Many: Although it was in a losing effort, Alex Perez became the first fighter out of Dana White's Contender Series to fight for a UFC title. Perez won a contract when he put Kevin Gray to sleep with an anaconda choke on the first season of the show.

Anywhere From -1025 to -2500: Shevchenko came into her title fight as a massive -1300 favorite – less than the advertised -2000 from the UFC broadcast, although some lines closed with her that high – and she became the biggest betting favorite of 2020. The last odds-on favorite that substantial was the -1500 Livinha Souza when she faced and submitted Alex Chambers at UFC Fight Night 137 in 2018.

Some Kind of Connection: Tim Means pieced up Mike Perry to earn a decision victory and put himself on his first win streak since 2016. Perry made his UFC debut in the bout directly after Means at UFC 202, where Means knocked out Sabah Homasi to go on that last winning streak.

Means to an End: Invicta Fighting Championships held its 43rd numbered event this weekend, with a five-fight event cut short when COVID-19 nixed the title fight. Means, the most experienced fighter on UFC 255, held more wins coming into this event (30) than the entire 10-woman card of Invicta FC 43 had fights (29).

Bear Jew With a Bat: Paul Craig preserved his 100 percent finish rate by forcing Mauricio Rua to surrender to strikes. Technically a TKO even though Rua waved the white flag, “Bearjew” has made 13 of 14 opponents in victory tap out.

No Shame in Saying ‘Matte’: Rua is the first fighter to tap to strikes since Alex Morono made Zak Ottow tap out at UFC Fight Night 146 in 2019. Only three UFC fighters have submitted to strikes in the last five years: David Branch, Ottow and Rua.

If This Is It: After his loss to Craig, “Shogun” openly discussed his potential retirement. Should this turn out to be his last fight, the 40-fight legend will leave the sport as a one-time UFC light heavyweight champion, the 2005 Pride Fighting Championships middleweight grand prix champ and the owner of one of the highest winning percentages (.929) in Pride FC history. He also authored two of just six stomp knockouts ever to take place in Pride.

BrandOn Brandon Violence: The flyweight clash between Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royval marked the first time two fighters named Brandon have set foot in the cage against one another. Moreno won by first-round knockout and dislocated Royval’s shoulder in the process, all while earning a title shot by the night’s end.

A Good Follow-Up: Although not quite as spectacular as his “Knockout of the Year” frontrunner against Impa Kasanganay, Joaquin Buckley delivered another “Performance of the Night”-winning finish over Jordan Wright. “New Mansa” posts a knockout rate of 75 percent, while finishing each of his last four opponents in victory with strikes.

Dana Hates That: Kyle Daukaus lowered his finish rate to 80 percent when he took home a unanimous verdict over Dustin Stoltzfus. It is just the second time he won on the scorecards, with the first when he appeared at Season 3 of the Contender Series and was not signed despite winning.

Not So Easy in the UFC: Coming into his UFC debut, Louis Cosce had lodged just over eight minutes of total fight time across his seven triumphs. Against Sasha Palatnikov, the bout lasted 12:27 before the unbeaten fighter succumbed to strikes, eclipsing his total previous fight time by a wide margin.

There Was A Firefight: Palatnikov and Cosce’s wild battle is just the third welterweight card opener to earn “Fight of the Night” honors. The first two 170-pound curtain jerkers to gain this distinction are Jonathan Goulet vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka at UFC 83 in 2008, and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Omari Akhmedov at UFC on Fox 19 in 2016.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC 255, Royval had never been finished (16 fights), Wright (12 fights) and Cosce (seven fights) had never been beaten and no fighter born in Hong Kong had ever competed inside the Octagon (Palatnikov). A Double DMX On You: Means and Chookagian both used DMX tracks – Means selected “Slippin” while Chookagian chose “Where the Hood At” – and both won their fights. Each fighter won a decision over their opponent.

Dude, Don’t Lie: Although he may claim otherwise, Perry picked “Halo” by Beyonce as his walkout tune, singing his way to the cage before dropping a decision to Means. Perry is not the first fighter to pick a song involving Beyonce, as Cat Zingano, Sijara Eubanks and Rodrigo Nascimento Ferreira all have done so on past recorded occasions.

I Hate the Eagles, Man: In an unorthodox pick for walkout music, Palatnikov went with “The Heat is On” by The Eagles frontman Glenn Frey from the “Beverly Hills Cop” soundtrack. No other recorded fighter has used a song performed by Glenn Frey, and only one has ever elected to use The Eagles: Eddie Wineland, before he lost to Sean O'Malley at UFC 250.