Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 207 ‘Volkov vs. Rozenstruik’
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TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 6,654
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 607
The Ultimate Fighting Championship popped in for a quick stop at the UFC Apex this weekend before heading to the eastern hemisphere, with a card that overdelivered in terms of expectations. The biggest story of the week came to a cathartic end for those involved, and that result did not come in the main event but the main card opener. UFC Fight Night 207 ended as a solid showing for Russian fighters, while featuring a few prospects with dazzling finish rates and a completely expected one-sided beatdown.
Unstack the Deck: Throughout the day, 14 fights played out inside of the UFC Apex. This ties the company record for the second-highest total in company history with a number of events including four other shows this year. The promotion is on pace to smash its record for the most cards featuring more than 13 fights on a calendar year.
Three’s a Crowd: Breaking with what has become a recent norm, this event featured Jon Anik on play-by-play and Paul Felder on color commentary, with no third in the booth. This is only the second UFC show this year to go with a two-man team, as UFC Fight Night 203 in March had Brendan Fitzgerald and Felder on the mics that night.
Not Great, Given Current Events: The three fighters representing Russia all prevailed on UFC Fight Night 207, with Alexander Volkov, Movsar Evloev and Rinat Fakhretdinov getting their hands raised at night’s end. Meanwhile, the Ukraine native of Mozharov lost.
Drago Must Break You: Leading up to his headliner with Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Volkov had amassed 16 first-round finishes in his 34 career wins. “Drago” stopped Rozenstruik in the opening round with punches, earning his first win in Round 1 since 2016, in the fight directly before joining the UFC.
Move Over Mendes: Over the course of three rounds, Evloev grounded Dan Ige nine times en route to a unanimous decision win. In just five bouts in the division – his match with Nik Lentz came at 150 pounds – Evloev has amassed 27 takedowns, tying him with Chad Mendes, Mirsad Bektic and Zabit Magomedsharipov for the sixth-most in UFC featherweight history. The record is double that with 54, held by Darren Elkins.
Ilia Topuria Says Evloev Fights Shamefully: Evloev advanced his unbeaten record to 16-0 by topping Ige. With a finish rate now below 50%, every one of Evloev’s six UFC wins went to the judges.
DWCS Beat TUF: Early into the third round, Lucas Almeida put Michael Trizano away with punches to earn his first UFC victory. The Brazilian still celebrates a 100% finish rate with his win, and only his third to come after the second frame.
Wonder Why So Few: With five seconds left in Round 1, Karine Silva successfully debuted with the promotion by tapping Poliana Botelho with a brabo choke. Her submission is just the second of its kind in UFC women’s divisional history, with the first Tatiana Suarez’ over Amanda Bobby Brundage at the TUF 23 Finale in 2016.
That’s Why She Was on the Main Card: Tapping out Botelho in the opening round, Silva’s stoppage rate remains a flawless 100% after her triumph. All 15 of her wins have come within two rounds.
Ode Ode-Ode-Ode: In only 61 seconds, Ode Osbourne decimated former Glory kickboxing champ Zarrukh Adashev with a right hand and follow-up punches. The flyweight earned the sixth-fastest knockout in his division’s history, and one second behind fifth place’s 60-second drubbing of Victor Rodriguez (#177975) by Bruno Silva (#118601) two weeks prior.
Sensational: The 30-year-old known as “The Jamaican Sensation” registered his sixth finish across his last seven wins by putting Adashev away early. Osbourne now posts a high stoppage rate of 82%.
The Most Obvious of Outcomes: A stellar finish rate of 92% now accompanies Alonzo Menifield’s record after easily handling UFC newcomer Mozharov. Exactly 75% of the wins for “Atomic Alonso” have come due to strikes.
Can’t Worm Your Way Out of Those: Falling short for the 13th time in his career – beyond a future investigation that locates additional missing losses – Mozharov has never gone the distance in defeat. All 13 of his setbacks have come within the first eight minutes of a fight.
Done with This Guy: Following the deep dive into Mozharov’s questionable record from the Fight Finder staff, the man known as “No Mercy” or “Black Jaguar” came into this bout with 19 career wins. Eleven of those came against foes that had never won a pro fight, while he only celebrates five victories against those with winning records.
She Back: Putting an end to a five-fight skid, Karolina Kowalkiewicz picked up her first win since 2018 by tapping out Felice Herrig with a rear-naked choke. Her last finish came in May 2014 in KSW, and at that time, 17 of the other 27 fighters on the card had yet to turn pro.
A Very Astra Record: Alex da Silva Coelho started his pro career by finishing his first 18 opponents, and then going the distance for the first time in a loss. In his last three outings, Coelho has reached the scorecards each time, and he has dropped two in a row, following a majority decision to Joe Solecki.
Leeching Out Wins: Damon Jackson earned only the third decision win of his career by handling newcomer Dan Argueta. The finish rate of “The Leech” fell to 86% with his victory at the hands of the judges.
Ahhh, the French Champagne: All of Benoit St. Denis’ nine career wins have come by finish, following his rear-naked choke of Niklas Stolze. The Frenchman has posted eight of those nine by submission, using five different maneuvers.
Well-Rounded Russian: A rarity for the debuting Fakhretdinov, the Russian needed three full rounds to beat Andreas Michailidis. While lowering his own stoppage rate to 84%, he did become the first man to beat “Spartan” by any way other than knockout.
Aldrich Goes All Day: Around the midpoint of the second round, Erin Blanchfield tapped J.J. Aldrich with a standing guillotine choke. Win or lose, Aldrich has fought beyond the first round in her last 12 bouts dating back to 2016.
Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 207, Trizano (11 fights) and Johnny Munoz Jr. (12 fights) had never been knocked out, Argueta had never been defeated (eight fights) and Stolze had never been submitted (17 fights).
Rapping in the Desert: Ahead of his co-headlining spot, Ige walked out to “Dirty Harry” by virtual band Gorillaz. While he is the first fighter to ever use any track by this group, he did come up short to Evloev.
Explosive Transformation: For the first time in her UFC career, Kowalkiewicz walked out to a song other than Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger.” Coincidentally, she recorded her first stoppage inside the Octagon after entering to “T.N.T.” by AC/DC.
99 Luftballons Go Pop: A new one for UFC walkout music, Stolze selected “99 Luftballons” by Nena as his tune to enter to the cage. Although he lost, he did become the first fighter to pick this German artist in the Octagon.
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