Fight Facts: UFC on ESPN 47 ‘Vettori vs. Cannonier’

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: 7,187
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 651

The Ultimate Fighting Championship proved yet again this past Saturday that name recognition is not always required for good fights, as several burgeoning prospects shined at night’s end. Excellent finishes, including a “Knockout of the Year” contender, littered the card that delivered above-average action. UFC on ESPN 47 featured a record-smashing strike total in the headliner, a submission artist testing out a new move and an elbow that would make Matt Brown blush.

Machine Gun Cannon Fire: Across five wild rounds, Jared Cannonier landed 241 significant strikes on Marvin Vettori to set the record at middleweight, passing Sean Strickland’s 186 on Uriah Hall in 2021.

No Middle Fingers Necessary: Cannonier put himself on the leaderboard for the most strikes landed in a single UFC bout when he lumped up Vettori en route to a decision win. The 241 sits as the fourth-most in company history, stepping over Nate Diaz’ 238 against Donald Cerrone back in 2011.

Not as Strong as a Gorilla: While “The Killa Gorilla” connected on Vettori 241 times, he never once authored a knockdown. None of the top five sig strike landed leaders –Max Holloway, Holloway again, Rob Font and Diaz – dropped their opponent when amassing those massive numbers.

Italian Counteroffensive: Even in defeat, Vettori slung back with 153 significant strikes of his own. This total also qualifies for the top 10 in this category at middleweight, tied in the six spot with Strickland vs. Jack Hermansson in 2022.

A Middleweight Andy Capp Comic: With 394 sig strikes in total between them, Cannonier and Vettori set the record for the most connected in a UFC middleweight contest by over 100. They checked in just six behind Holloway vs. Brian Ortega in 2018, in the no. 4 place all-time.

Matchmakers Dropped the Ball: Arman Tsarukyan closed as a mighty -1150 favorite against teammate Joaquim Silva (+750), the third-highest in the Octagon thus far this year. Like Bo Nickal (-1800) and Tatsuro Taira (-1250) before him, Tsarukyan won by stoppage.

The Zemlyakov Curse: After three rounds, Armen Petrosyan had his hand raised for a unanimous decision against Christian Leroy Duncan. “Superman” began his pro career amassing six knockouts – and a single defeat, also by strikes – and has since earned his last three victories on the scorecards.

Heel Hooks Can Wait: In Round 2, Pat Sabatini strangled Lucas Almeida with an arm-triangle choke to boost his pro finish rate to 72%. The majority of the Pennsylvanian’s wins have come by submission, but this is his first via arm-triangle.

Manual Manuel: Courtesy of one elbow, Manuel Torres leveled Nikolas Motta within two minutes. “El Loco” lifted his sky-high stoppage rate to 93%, and all 13 of his finishes have come in the opening frame.

Like a Lokomotivo: Staging the moderate upset, Nicolas Dalby outworked Muslim Salikhov to pick up the decision. Other than a no contest when opponent Jesse Ronson failed a post-fight drug test, every one of Dalby’s 10 UFC outings has heard the final bell.

Swish and Flick: Early into the second stanza, Alessandro Costa wiped Jimmy Flick out with elbows. The Brazilian has seen four of his last five wins come via strikes, accounting for all of his career knockouts.

Korean Jiu-Jitsu: Around the midpoint of the first round, Kyung Ho Kang dispatched Cristian Quinonez with a rear-naked choke to earn his fourth submission as a UFC bantamweight. This ties Aljamain Sterling and Marlon Vera for the third-most in the division, behind just Urijah Faber and Rani Yahya (six apiece).

You Are Technically Correct: With just one second left in the fight, Carlos Hernandez vs. Denys Bondar was waved off not for a knockout but due to an accidental clash of heads during a slam to force a technical decision. While all eight technical decisions in UFC history have come in Round 3, at 4:59, this is the latest.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC on ESPN 47, Duncan had never been defeated (eight fights), Almeida had never been finished (15 fights) and Salikhov (22 fights) and Zac Pauga (seven fights) had never lost on the scorecards.

Welcome to Scatland: For the second time in a row, Flick selected “Scatman” by Scatman John for his walkout tune. Like the last time, he suffered a knockout, this time at the hands of Costa. He remains the lone fighter to ever use music from this Eurodance scat singer.

Come Back, Baby: Before his pairing with Ronnie Lawrence, Dan Argueta walked out to “Baby, Let’s Play House” by Elvis Presley. Far from the first to select a song by “The King,” competitors that pick an Elvis song are accompanied by a low win percentage of .300.