Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 204 ‘Volkov vs. Aspinall’

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: 6,544
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 598

The Ultimate Fighting Championship figuratively blew the roof off of the O2 Arena in London on Saturday with a fight card instantly drew consideration for “Event of the Year.” Violence poured like an avalanche coming down the mountain, with three-quarters of the matches ending inside the distance, prompting UFC head Dana White to dole out bonus checks for every stoppage. UFC Fight Night 204 featured a slew of huge favorites all coming out unscathed, a big man elbow-breaker and major glory for several local fighters.

Happy Dana, Happy Life: Outdoing the tally of eight bonuses awarded at UFC 269 in December – a similar quantity came at the The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Finale – nine different “Performance of the Night” honors were bestowed throughout the night. Easily the largest amount of bonus money dished out this year, the $450,000 given to fighters still trails UFC 129’s $516,000.

Best Fight Card This Year: Throughout the 12-fight offering, nine different matches from the curtain jerker to the main event ended by stoppage. Across UFC history, only 15 events have concluded with more finishes; the modern era record stands at 11 in one night, at both UFC Fight Night 55 and UFC 224.

Surrender Night in London: Of the nine finishes on this fight card, five ended due to submission, with four competitors tapping out and one getting put to sleep with a choke. UFC Fight Night 204 now ties a slew of other events for the seventh-most subs in one night in company history, and UFC on Fuel 10’s eight from 2013 stands above the pack.

Squash Matches Squashed: Four of the 12 matchups at UFC Fight Night 204 closed with betting odds above -500, and all four of the favored men won. This ties the UFC record for the second-most favorites of that magnitude, and only UFC Fight Night 136 (six) saw more fights with odds that widespread.

Passed with Flying Colours: In less than four minutes, Tom Aspinall hit a straight armbar on Alexander Volkov to prevail in the main event. The Brit improved his UFC record to 5-0 with five finishes, and he has still yet to reach the nine-minute mark in a pro bout.

A New Big Man Sub: Across UFC history, 10 straight armbars have officially been recorded over the years following Aspinall’s maneuver. More heavyweights have performed this move than any other weight category.

An Elbow Lever by Any Other Name: The submission defeat for Russia’s Volkov is his first since Maxim Grishin tapped him out in July 2010. At that time, 20 of the 23 others on this card including his opponent had yet to make their pro debuts.

Welcome to the Elite at 145: Arnold Allen blasted Dan Hooker to notch his ninth UFC win in a row, while earning his first finish since 2018. As a UFC featherweight, “Almighty” sports the second-longest win streak in divisional history, trailing only Max Holloway’s 13 consecutive victories at 145 pounds.

Love for Liverpool: Liverpool’s Paddy Pimblett put Rodrigo Vargas away in the first round with a rear-naked choke to collect his fourth straight Round 1 stoppage. “The Baddy” celebrates a 78% finish rate, with each of his last five victories ending inside the distance.

Gunni Reloading: Making his return after nearly two and a half years away, Gunnar Nelson snagged a decision over Takashi Sato. It marked just the second time “Gunni” had required the judges’ services to get his hand raised as a pro, with the first coming against Jorge Santiago in 2013 in a fight that took place 10 months before Sato made his pro debut.

Who Saw That Coming? Molly McCann lamped Luana Carolina with a spinning back elbow in the third round, resulting in the first finish of her UFC tenure. Each of the last six efforts for McCann had gone three full rounds.

Spinning Ball of Meat: The spinning back elbow for McCann is the fourth in organizational history, and the first since Jiri Prochazka earned himself a title shot against Dominick Reyes in May 2021. “Meatball” is the first female UFC fighter to land this type of knockout.

McCann by Knockout Was +900: Before McCann, not a single woman to ever step foot inside of the Octagon had ever won with a spinning strike. Knockouts account for less than 19% of wins among all female fighters throughout UFC history.

Spin Around, Cut the Check: With McCann as one of the nine victors to earn $50,000 checks for finishes, every single UFC fighter to score a knockout from a spinning back elbow has earned at least some kind of a post-fight bonus.

Confusing Flags: Ilia Topuria started off his career with seven submissions, with all seven coming within two rounds. Since then, all four of the Georgian-Spaniard’s stoppages came from his hands.

The Matador Beat the Bull: “El Matador” saw his perfect record lift up to 12-0 by putting Jai Herbert away with punches. The finish rate of the Climent Club representative now sits at 92%, and all of those wins inside the distance concluded before the eight-minute mark.

Mr. Anaconda…Pause: In 57 seconds, Makwan Amirkhani rendered Mike Grundy unconscious with an anaconda choke. “Mr. Finland” now takes the lead for the most anacondas performed in organization with three, breaking a three-way tie with Charles Oliveira and Phil Davis.

Russia on Russia Violence: Sergei Pavlovich returned from a lengthy absence to lump up Shamil Abdurakhimov with punches in the first round. As a pro, the Russian’s knockout rate sits at 80%, and he has never made a foe tap out to any maneuver.

It Happened Again: A first-round comeback by triangle choke allowed Paul Craig to defeat Nikita Krylov and retain his 100% finish rate. Half of the wins for “Bearjew” have come from his dangerous triangle choke.

He Can’t Keep Getting Away With It: With his fourth triangle in the books since joining the UFC roster in 2016, Craig extends his record for the most of any to compete under its banner. Thirteen other competitors including Demian Maia, Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone have notched two, while no other has recorded more than two.

He’ll Get It: Craig is now alone with the second-most submission victories in UFC light heavyweight history with six tapouts across his eight UFC wins. He breaks a tie held by the likes of Jon Jones and Ovince St. Preux, while trailing champ Glover Teixeira’s seven.

Paul Bearer: Only four men in UFC light heavyweight history have put more opponents away than Craig and his eight stoppages: Chuck Liddell (nine), Jones (10), St. Preux (11) and Teixeira (13).

Shoring Up His Record: Needing three full rounds to defeat Timur Valiev, Wales’ Jack Shore advanced his spotless record to 16-0 since turning pro in 2016. His stoppage rate fell to 75% with the decision win, and three of his four triumphs on the scorecards have come in his last three appearances.

One Past Win Is Under Review: Making his debut with a sub-minute guillotine choke of Cody Durden, Muhammad Mokaev pushed himself to 7-0 with a no contest. “The Punisher” has amassed all eight of those professional appearances in a bit over 19 and a half months.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 204, Sato had never lost on the scorecards (19 fights), Carolina had never been knocked out (10 fights) and Krylov had never dropped consecutive bouts (35 fights).

Move On Up to Contendership: In all five of his UFC outings, Aspinall has come accompanied by “Move On Up” by Curtis Mayfield playing behind him. The Wigan, England, native has won all five, with none taking longer than 6:09.

Crowd Noises: Excluding a 2012 no contest, “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes in any iteration has played over loudspeakers 17 recorded times for UFC fighters. Those competitors, following Shore’s selection of the tune and subsequent triumph, hold a decent win percentage of .647.