By The Numbers: UFC on ESPN 18

Tristen CritchfieldNov 29, 2020

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After back-to-back lopsided losses, Anthony Smith had something to prove at UFC on ESPN 18.

The former light heavyweight title challenger returned to the win column against Devin Clark on Saturday night, submitting his foe with a triangle choke 2:34 into the opening round of the evening’s makeshift headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Following losses to Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic earlier this year, it was a much-needed bounceback performance for “Lionheart.” Clark, meanwhile, sees a modest two-fight winning streak come to an end.

Here is a by-the-numbers look at UFC on ESPN 18, with statistics courtesy of UFCStats.com.

2,100: Days since Smith’s last victory via triangle choke victory, a second-round submission of Tim Williams at Cage Fury Fighting Championships 46 on February 28, 2015.

5: Finishes by Smith since leaving middleweight for 205 pounds in 2018. That ties him with Paul Craig for the most in the division during that time. Smith has stopped Clark, Alexander Gustafsson, Volkan Oezdemir, Mauricio Rua and Rashad Evans at light heavyweight.

31: Career finishes among 34 professional victories for Smith, who owns 18 wins via KO/TKO and 13 by way of submission.

7: Consecutive UFC main events for Smith, a streak that dates back to a headlining date against Rua in July 2018. The last two headliners occurred when Smith and his opponents were elevated following a late cancellation of the original feature.

3: Finishes in as many UFC appearances for Dana White’s Contender Series alum Miguel Baeza, who submitted Takashi Sato with a triangle choke in the second round of the evening’s welterweight co-main event. In addition to Sato, Baeza has stopped Matt Brown and Hector Aldana inside the distance in the Octagon.

240: Combined significant strikes landed by Parker Porter (126) and Josh Parisian (114). That’s a UFC record for a three-round heavyweight fight. The previous record came at UFC on ESPN 4, when Andrei Arlovski and Ben Rothwell combined for 222 significant strikes. Porter emerged with a unanimous decision triumph on Saturday night.

94: Significant strikes landed by Norma Dumont Viana in a lopsided three-round verdict over Ashlee Evans-Smith at flyweight. By comparison, Evans-Smith landed 42. Viana outlanded her foe 33 to 20 in Round 1, 21 to 6 in Round 2 and 40 to 16 in Round 3.

.580: Significant striking accuracy for Viana, who landed 94 of 161 attempts. Evans-Smith was much less accurate, landing 42 of 164 attempts for a 25 percent success rate.

78: Total strike advantage for Jonathan Pearce during a dominant second round against Kai Kamaka in a featured featherweight bout. Pearce also went 4-for-4 on takedowns before finishing the bout with punches from back mount at the 4:28 mark of Round 2. Overall, Pearce held a 113-to-48 advantage in total strikes.

3: Women’s fights ending via body-kick finishes in UFC history. Gina Mazany became the third to end a contest in that fashion when she stopped Rachael Ostovich with a front kick to the midsection at the 4:10 mark of Round 3 in their preliminary flyweight clash. The first two: Joanne Calderwood vs. Valerie Letourneau at UFC Fight Night 89 in June 2016 and Poliana Botelho vs. Syuri Kondo at UFC Fight Night 129 in May 2018.

Related » UFC on ESPN 18 Round-by-Round Scoring


7: Takedowns landed in 12 attempts for Mazany. In her first five UFC appearances, Mazanay landed a total of seven takedowns.

72: Significant strikes landed by Mazany, also a UFC career best. By comparison, Ostovich landed 41. Mazany also held a 106-to-49 edge in total strikes.

0:44: Time of Su Mudaerji’s first-round technical knockout victory of Malcolm Gordon, tying him for the third-fastest finish in UFC flyweight history. Dustin Ortiz’s 15-second KO of Hector Sandoval at UFC Fight Night 114 is the fastest, while Henry Cejudo’s 32-second stoppage of T.J. Dillashaw in a 125-pound title bout at UFC Fight Night 143 is No. 2.

11: Career KO/TKO triumphs among 13 professional victories for Mudaerji, who has only gone the distance once in 17 professional outings — a unanimous decision win over Andre Soukhamthath in his second Octagon appearance at UFC Fight Night 157.

3: Total significant strikes landed by Gordon in two UFC appearances, first-round losses to Muadaerji and Amir Albazi.

22: Significant strikes by which Luke Sanders outlanded Nate Maness before falling victim to a rear-naked choke at the 2:29 mark of Round 2 in a 140-pound catchweight bout. Previously, Sanders outlanded Iuri Alcantara by 71 significant strikes in a kneebar submission loss at UFC 209 — the second largest advantage for a losing fighter in promotion history.