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Fight Facts: UFC on ESPN 7


Fight Facts is a breakdown of all 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: 5,443
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 503

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday in Washington, D.C., returned from a seemingly lengthy absence with a card that delivered violence in spades. UFC on ESPN 7 featured the latest stoppage in promotional heavyweight history, the first female fighter to fight not to one but two draws and an ultra-rare submission seen just a few times in major MMA competition.

THE ‘D’ IN D.C. STANDS FOR DRAW: UFC on ESPN 7 featured two draws: between Cynthia Calvillo-Marina Rodriguez and Yadong Song-Cody Stamann. Only two prior events—UFC 22 and UFC 216—had featured multiple draws.

NO INTEREST IN KNOCKOUTS: Bryce Mitchell and Virna Jandiroba tapped their opponents at this event, and both fighters still have never won a fight by knockout. Mitchell advanced his finish rate to 75 percent, while Jandiroba lifted hers to 80 percent.

ROZENSTRUCK: Jairzinho Rozenstruik earned a massive comeback with a one-punch knockout of Alistair Overeem at 4:56 of the fifth round. The knockout is the latest in heavyweight history, eclipsing the old record set by Cain Velasquez, who stopped Junior dos Santos with a slam and follow-up punches 3:09 into Round 5 at UFC 166.

IT AIN’T OVER TILL IT’S OVER: The stoppage for Rozenstruik ties Frankie Edgar’s neck crank submission of Cub Swanson at UFC Fight Night 57 in 2014 for the third-latest finish in organizational history. The top spot belongs to Demetrious Johnson’s armbar of Kyoji Horiguchi and Yair Rodriguez’s elbow knockout of Chan Sung Jung. Both took place at 4:59 of Round 5.

ONE BIGI BOY: After advancing his record to 10-0 by finishing Overeem, “Bigi Boy” has stopped nine of his opponents by knockout.

STOPPED AND SMELLED THE ROZES: Rozenstruik’s combined Octagon time coming into his headliner with Overeem was 6:32. He nearly quadrupled that figure, with their bout lasting just under 25 minutes.

THE DEMOLISHED MAN: “The Demolition Man” has now suffered seven knockouts inside the Octagon, tied for the third-most stoppages due to strikes at heavyweight with Andrei Arlovski, Antonio Silva and Stefan Struve; the latter tied the mark at this event, as well. Only Frank Mir and Gabriel Gonzaga have more, with eight each.

WIN, LOSE OR THAT: After fighting to a draw with Calvillo, Rodriguez has still yet to taste defeat in her pro career. She becomes the first female fighter in UFC history to have multiple fights end via draw.

DOUBLE DUTY: The draw was Rodriguez’s second inside the Octagon. She joins B.J. Penn, Caol Uno, Ken Shamrock and Lando Vannata as the only fighters in UFC history to record multiple draws in the promotion.

WHAT HAPPENED TO BIG BEN?: In a fight marred by controversy, Ben Rothwell secured a second-round knockout of Struve. Across his 37 career victories, Rothwell has finished his opponent in 34 of those contests and sports a stoppage rate of 92 percent.

PERFECT CORNER ADVICE: In securing the stoppage against Yana Kunitskaya with third-round strikes, Aspen Ladd has finished every opponent she has beaten, with the exception of Sijara Eubanks.

STILL NOT THE FIRST ‘PITBULL’: Thiago Alves lost by submission on the final fight of his current UFC contract> He made his promotional debut in 2005 at UFC Fight Night 2, where he was submitted by Spencer Fisher. Only five of the other 23 fighters on this card had made their professional debuts at that point.

FAVORITE BOARD GAME?: Bryce Mitchell hit a twister on Matt Sayles in the first round, securing the second finish by this type of submission in UFC history. The first came at UFC Fight Night 24, where Jung dispatched Leonard Garcia in 2011.

HE LOOKED INTO IT: The twister from “Thug Nasty” -- a move created by jiu-jitsu ace and cannabis enthusiast Eddie Bravo -- came at exactly 4:20 of the opening frame.

DOROTHY HATES THIS SUBMISSION: Across all major MMA promotions, the twister submission has only been successfully utilized four times. In addition to Mitchell and Jung, Angela Lee landed it on Natalie Gonzales Hills at One Fighting Championship 33 in 2015, while Danny Mitchell scored one over C.J. Meeks at Bellator 158 in 2016. Meanwhile, Levi Mowles pulled off a twister on Jake Norsworthy at Legacy Fighting Championship 46 in 2015.

MAKHMUD MURDERDOV: By smashing Trevor Smith with one punche in the third round, Makhmud Muradov extended his winning streak to 13 fights. He has not suffered a defeat since he injured his shoulder in 2016, and across those 13 wins, he has knocked out 10 opponents.

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into UFC on ESPN 7, Overeem (63 fights) and Rozenstruik (nine fights) had never fought beyond the third round, Sayles (10 fights) and Mallory Martin (eight fights) had never been finished and Ricky Simon had never lost on the scorecards (17 fights, eight decision wins).

FIGHT FOR THE RIGHTS OF EVERY MAN: Two fighters over the weekend -- Billy Quarantillo and Tito Ortiz at Combate Americas: Tito vs. Alberto -- walked out to “Real American” by Rick Derringer, also known as the theme for professional wrestling icon Hulk Hogan. Both dominated their opponents to win by submission.

THE DRAWING POWER OF KANYE: Calvillo and Stamann walked out to songs from Kanye West. Calvillo utilized “All of the Lights,” while Stamann was accompanied by “Use This Gospel.” Both fighters fought to draws.
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