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Fight Facts: UFC on ESPN 1


You can sign up for a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC on ESPN+ live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

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: 5002
Total number of UFC Events: 467

The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its debut on the ESPN flagship network with some insane action and historic statistics. The event featured the next in a long line of fighters from a legendary MMA family, the company's 5,000th bout and walkout music you would have to hear to believe.

GOTTA FEEL FOR THE GUY: In the UFC's debut on Fox and ESPN, Cain Velasquez has served as the headliner for each event. In those bouts, he has lost twice by knockout in a combined 90 seconds. Francis Ngannou knocked out Velasquez in 26 seconds, and Junior dos Santos knocked out Velasquez at UFC on Fox 1 in 64 seconds.

PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: Ngannou finished Velasquez in less than a minute, and all 13 of his career victories have come by stoppage within two rounds. All three times when he has gone the distance, he has lost.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES? When Cynthia Calvillo and Cortney Casey met inside the Octagon, they became the first two fighters in UFC history to ever face off sharing the same letter of both their first and last names.

FIVE THOUSAND: The strawweight bout between Calvillo and Casey marked the 5000th fight to ever take place inside the Octagon. Calvillo topped Casey on the scorecards to score the victory.

CASE OF THE MONDAYS: Dropping a decision to Calvillo, Casey earned her sixth loss inside the Octagon. The loss tied her for the most losses of any female fighter in the promotion with Kailin Curran.

WELCOME BACK: Entering the cage to face Alex Caceres, Kron Gracie became the first Gracie to compete in the Octagon since Roger Gracie lost a decision to Tim Kennedy at UFC 162 in 2013.

GRACIE TRAIN A-ROLLIN' Tapping out Caceres, Kron is the first member of the legendary Gracie family to win inside the UFC since Royce Gracie tapped Dan Severn to win the UFC 4 tournament in 1994. Three other Gracies -- Rolles Gracie, Renzo Gracie and Roger Gracie -- all fell short in their appearances, and Royce did not win another bout in the promotion after that victory over Severn.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Kron's appearance made him the 10th Gracie to ever fight for either the UFC or Pride Fighting Championships, and the first compete in either of those organizations without a given name starting with the letter "R": Royce Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Rickson Gracie, Royler Gracie, Ryan Gracie, Rodrigo Gracie, Ralph Gracie, Rolles Gracie and Roger Gracie.

A TRUE GRACIE: Kron remained undefeated at 5-0 when he submitted Caceres with a rear-naked choke, and all five of his wins have come by submission within two rounds.

LA VIOLENCIA! According to UFCStats, the "Fight of the Night"-winning bout and early "Fight of the Year" contender between Vicente Luque and Bryan Barberena combined for 332 significant strikes landed. The two men combined for the second-most significant strikes landed in any three-round bout in promotional history -- just two strikes shy of the record set by Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone at UFC 141 in 2011.

UP ALL NIGHT TO GET LUQUE: Finishing Bryan Barberena with knees and punches, Vicente Luque has now stopped his opponent in 14 of his 15 career wins (93.3%). It marked the first time Luque had ever finished a fight in the third round, with his previous 13 stoppages coming in the first two rounds.

MANNY MEN (WISH DEATH) : Tapping out Benito Lopez with a guillotine choke, Manny Bermudez improved his undefeated record to 14-0 with 12 stoppages to his credit.

ALBLOWN OUT: By finishing Aleksandra Albu in 61 seconds with a rear-naked choke, Emily Whitmire picked up the fastest submission win and second-fastest finish in UFC women’s strawweight history. It was also the second-fastest submission win in women’s divisional history, trailing only Ronda Rousey's 14 seconds armbar of Cat Zingano at UFC 184.

MIGHT WANT TO DOUBLE CHECK THAT: Contrary to the UFC's display, Albu came into her bout against Whitmire with a professional record of 3-0 and not 7-0. That undefeated record was snapped when Whitmire submitted her in rapid fashion.

WHAT HAPPENS IN PHOENIX…: Although Jessica Penne's bout was later cancelled, three fighters missed weight for UFC on ESPN 1: Bermudez (140), Renan Barao (138) and Penne (118). This marked the most number of fighters missing weight at an event since UFC Fight Night 121, where four fighters came in heavy.

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into UFC on ESPN 1, Vick had never lost on the scorecards (15 fights), Barberena had never been knocked out (19 fights) and Lopez had never been defeated (9 fights).

ABJECT TERROR: In a powerful and terrifying display of walkout audio, Kron Gracie skipped the standard practice of using a song, and instead selected an air raid siren from the film "The Purge". Kron tapped out Caceres early in the first round, and he previously used this sound for his Rizin bout against Tatsuya Kawajiri in 2016. This intimidating use of walkout music is reminiscent of Mike Tyson's entrance before his bout with Mike Spinks in 1988, where Tyson went on to destroy Spinks in 91 seconds.

MOVE AND GROOVE : In all ten of his Octagon appearances, Vicente Luque has walked out to "Baby Baby" by the Brazilian dance music group Tropkillaz. With his late knockout of Barberena in the books, Luque now holds a high record of 8-2 when using the track.

DOO DOO, DOO DOO DOO DOO: In an unusual choice of walkout music, Barberena changed his oft-used walkout song choice from "The Outsiders" by Eric Church into something more unconventional: "Baby Shark" by PinkFong. It was the first time that song has ever been used inside the Octagon.

Jay Pettry is an attorney and a statistician. Writing about MMA since he started studying the “Eminem Curse” in 2012, and writing for Vice Sports and Combat Docket along the way, he put together many fight result and entrance music databases to better study the sport. You can find him on Twitter at @jaypettry. Advertisement
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