By The Numbers: Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez

Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez are at the mercy of the men in front of them in the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight pecking order.

On the periphery of the current title picture at 145 pounds, the Top 5 contenders will lock horns in the UFC on ABC 3 headliner this Saturday at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. Ortega carries a stellar 7-2 record inside the Octagon. The former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion last fought at UFC 266 on Sept. 25, when he lost a unanimous decision to Alexander Volkanovski in a failed bit to capture the undisputed featherweight crown. Rodriguez, meanwhile, burst on the scene in 2014, as he won “The Ultimate Fighter Latin America” and marked his territory as a prospect to watch. He has not competed since he dropped a unanimous verdict to Max Holloway in the UFC Fight Night 197 main event in November.

As Ortega and Rodriguez make their final preparations, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

31: Years of age for Ortega, who was born in Los Angeles on Feb. 21, 1991.

7: Ortega victories by submission, accounting for 47% of his career total (15). His methods of choice: four triangle chokes, two guillotine chokes and one rear-naked choke. Ortega holds three other victories by knockout or technical knockout and five more by decision.

11: Submission attempts for Ortega as a UFC featherweight, placing him sixth on the promotion’s all-time list at 145 pounds. Only Darren Elkins (23), Chas Skelly (17), Charles Oliveira (16), Jason Knight (13) and Dennis Bermudez (12) have been credited with more.

350,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses pocketed by Ortega across his 10 assignments in the UFC. He has been awarded “Fight of the Night” on five occasions and “Performance of the Night” twice.

.857: Cumulative winning percentage between the two opponents—Volkanovski and Holloway—who have beaten Ortega. They sport a combined record of 48-8.

29: Years of age for Rodriguez, who was born on Oct. 6, 1992 in Hidalgo del Parral, Mexico.

4: Rodriguez wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 31% of his career total (13). His list of victims: Chan Sung Jung, B.J. Penn, Andre Fili and Edgar Juarez. Rodriguez owns three other wins by submission and six more by decision.

13: Seconds needed for Rodriguez to punch out Juarez under the Mexican Fighters Promotions flag on Feb. 16, 2013. Having occurred more than nine years ago, it remains his fastest finish to date.

3: UFC appearances in which Rodriguez has connected with at least 100 significant strikes. He landed 120 of them in a five-round split decision over Alex Caceres at UFC Fight Night 92 on Aug. 6, 2016, 119 of them in his fifth-round knockout of Jung at UFC Fight Night 139 on Nov. 10, 2018 and a career-best 159 of them in his aforementioned loss to Holloway.

49: Combined victories between the three opponents—Holloway, Frankie Edgar and Luis Roberto Herrera—who have defeated Rodriguez. They boast a cumulative .710 winning percentage (49-19-1).