Fight Facts: UFC 276 ‘Adesanya 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: 6,702
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 611

The Ultimate Fighting Championship put together on paper one of the more scintillating cards of the year, but expectations soared too high relative to the action through the night. Champs defended, veterans retired and boos rained down for much of the main event. UFC 276 featured a pair of win streaks reaching legendary status, the battle for the winningest fighter in UFC history and the conclusion of the search for the best walkout in 2022.

The Makings of An Amazing Show: Throughout the five-fight main card, no fighter could land a single takedown. UFC 276 marks the first pay-per-view event where its main card featured zero takedowns since UFC 134 in 2011.

Boring but Effective: By a nip-and-tuck decision, Israel Adesanya successfully defended his middleweight strap against Jared Cannonier. While he owns the second-longest 185-pound reign in UFC history, Anderson Silva holds twice as many defenses.

He Laughs at the Drake Curse: The lone career defeat for Adesanya came at 205 pounds, when he vied for the belt against Jan Blachowicz. The remaining fights – all wins – give Adesanya a current win streak of 12 straight fights at middleweight. Silva’s record of 13 in a row at 185 is the lone longer stretch in the Octagon.

Don’t Go for Double Title Trouble: After 25 minutes of action, Alexander Volkanovski ended the trilogy with Max Holloway in his favor by unanimous decision. In doing so, he passed Holloway’s tally of three title defenses to notch his fourth. The only featherweight champ with more is Jose Aldo, who successfully held on to the belt seven times in a row.

Out Hollowaying Holloway: Since he lost to Conor McGregor in 2013, Holloway has landed more significant strikes than every opponent besides one: Volkanovski. The Aussie outstruck Holloway in all three of their meetings, surpassing Holloway by 23, 35 and 72 significant strikes in their respective bouts.

Fight Allen or Emmett Next: Volkanovski pushed his UFC win streak to 12 by beating Holloway for the third time. “The Great” is now one of 10 fighters in UFC history to amass a streak of this length, while he becomes the fourth to do so to begin his UFC career. He joins Silva, Kamaru Usman and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Can’t Catch 22: The featherweight kingpin has not lost in 22 straight fights, dating back to his May 2013 knockout by Corey Nelson. At that time, eight of the other 21 competitors on this card had yet to make their pro debuts.

Buy Him Dinner First: The trilogy concluded with 75 minutes of combat between the two men. This marks the first three-bout encounter between two fighters in UFC history where every fight consisted of a full five-round battle.

The Second Fight Though: At the conclusion of UFC 276, 16 trilogies have taken place entirely under the UFC banner. Volkanovski joins Tito Ortiz over Ken Shamrock and Frankie Edgar over B.J. Penn as the third fighter to prevail in all three meetings.

Keeping It 100: Even in defeat, Holloway connected with 127 significant strikes. He has passed the 100-sig strike threshold in his last 10 outings, and done so in 14 total UFC fights – a record that stands well above the pack.

Lapping Everyone: In his mighty UFC career to date, Holloway has scored with an incredible 2,975 significant strikes. As a result, there are only six fighters to ever compete in the promotion whose significant strike total is not at least doubled by Holloway’s.

Iron Yet Unavoidable Chin: While Holloway has doled out that aforementioned astronomical quantity of significant strikes, he has also absorbed a record number of 2,010. Despite this, he has never been knocked down in any of his 26 appearances, which also stands as a UFC record.

”Poatan” Powerup: In half a round, Alex Pereira clobbered Sean Strickland to earn the next shot at the middleweight throne. The former kickboxer nicknamed “Poatan” now celebrates a career knockout rate of 83% as a pro, and he is riding a win streak that dates back to 2016.

Bam Bam Bucks: Bryan Barberena and Robbie Lawler threw down for the good part of two rounds until Barberena pulled off the stoppage to strikes. Both men pocketed $50,000 checks for “Fight of the Night,” giving “Bam Bam” his fourth such bonus in his last seven fights.

Corneal Abrasion, not ‘Wimping Out’: The eye poke from Sean O'Malley on Pedro Munhoz ended the fight in their fight in the second round, resulting in a no contest. This no decision is the first to take place in the UFC this year, and the last time one came in the Octagon, Kyle Daukaus and Kevin Holland clashed heads at UFC Fight Night 193 in 2021.

The Spider and the Fly: Jalin Turner needed exactly 45 seconds to snare a guillotine choke on Brad Riddell. “The Tarantula” celebrates a perfect 100% finish rate as a pro across his 13 career wins, and he is now riding a five-fight stoppage streak in the UFC.

Revenge Is Sweet: Putting an end to a spirited bout 92 seconds into Round 2, Jim Miller submitted Donald Cerrone to earn his 24th win as a UFC fighter. “A-10” breaks a tie with Cerrone and Andrei Arlovski for the most in company history.

Old Dog, Old Tricks: Fully 16 of Miller’s 24 wins have come by stoppage, tying him with “Cowboy” for the second most in the history of the UFC. Charles Oliveira’s 19 gives him claim for the top spot.

Jim Gracie: Miller’s submission was his 11th overall, passing Royce Gracie’s 10 and joining Demian Maia for the No. 2 place in that category. Oliveira has submitted 16 foes, putting a great deal of space between himself and the next likely challengers for that total.

A-40: By merely stepping into the Octagon, Miller entered into his 40th UFC fight. “A-10” is the first to achieve this feat, with Arlovski and Cerrone both holding 38. The closest active fighter is Clay Guida with 33 appearances.

A Fight Facts Retrospective is Coming: “Cowboy” announced his retirement following his setback to Miller, with his name littered across the UFC record books. He retires ranked third or higher for the most wins, finishes, appearances, knockdowns and fight-night bonuses in UFC history.

Promising Future: A three-round verdict for Ian Garry over Gabriel Green elevated the Irishman to 10-0 as a pro. Although “The Future” started off his career with five finishes in six appearances, since then, he has gone the distance in three of his last four.

”StillJudges” Doesn’t Sound Right: For the first time in his career, Dricus Du Plessis settled for a decision instead of a stoppage. “Stillknocks” busted up Brad Tavares but could not put him away, earning his first career victory on the scorecards.

He Wanted That Armbar: Taking home a unanimous decision win over Uriah Hall, Andre Muniz put himself on a triumphant five-fight win streak. The Brazilian’s finish rate dropped to 83% with the performance, although three of his four career decisions have come since he joined a major promotion in 2018.

The Future Is in the Future: Maycee Barber earned the nod on all three scorecards against Jessica Eye to earn her third win in a row. “The Future” started off as a pro by recording seven stoppages in eight outings, but since then, all five of her appearances have ended in the hands of the judges.

See You Soon, Girl: Eye hung up her gloves after the decision loss to Barber, having suffered her 10th defeat since joining the roster in 2013. That total is shy of Angela Hill’s record of 12, while the former flyweight title challenger shares this second place with Randa Markos.

No More 0-Fer: Julija Stoliarenko staved off a losing streak to earn her first UFC win in five tries, tapping Jessica-Rose Clark with a 42-second armbar. The win prevented her from becoming the first woman to go 0-5 in the UFC.

Stole Your Arm Too: The stoppage time of 42 seconds in the first round gave Stoliarenko the second-quickest submission in UFC women’s divisional history. Ronda Rousey’s 14-second straight armbar of Cat Zingano in 2015 holds the top place.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC 276, Turner had never earned a post-fight bonus (seven fights, five finishes), Riddell had never dropped consecutive bouts (12 fights) and Du Plessis had never gone the distance (18 fights).

Walkout of the Year, Done: Ahead of his main event, Adesanya walked out to the theme song of pro wrestler The Undertaker, “Rest in Peace” composed by Jim Johnston, and emerged wearing the trademark hat and carrying an urn engraved with Cannonier’s name. “The Last Stylebender” is the first fighter in UFC history to select this music, and he pulled off the win.

Be Running Up That Hill: The walkout for Holloway started with “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush, a song recently re-popularized for its use in the fourth season of TV show “Stranger Things.” The selection, followed by his standard “Hawaiian Kickboxer” by Moke Boy, marked the first time a Kate Bush tune had ever played in an arena ahead of a UFC fight.

I Got the Moves: Adesanya was not the only fighter to pick a wrestling star’s theme song at UFC 276. Jessica-Rose Clark went with “Sexy Boy,” known as the theme for Shawn Michaels, by J.J. Maguire. Like Adesanya, no fighter had ever this song as well; unlike Adesanya, she lost.