Fight Facts: UFC on ESPN 33 ‘Blaydes vs. Daukaus’

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: 6,556
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 599

The Ultimate Fighting Championship ended a long stretch of constant Saturday event in the capital city of Ohio. The Nationwide Arena in Columbus rocked from start to finish even with only one local on the card, and the show dragged in parts but delivered when it mattered most. UFC on ESPN 33 featured an unexpected takedown void for a heavyweight wrestler, a kickboxer with a penchant for early submission defeats and a spinning back fist that very few saw coming.

Blaydes Sharpening His Fists: Seventeen seconds into the second frame, Curtis Blaydes punched Chris Daukaus out to pocket a post-fight bonus check. Every one of Blaydes’ career finishes have come due to strikes, and he has not yet attempted a submission since joining the roster in 2016.

The Johny Hendricks Dilemma: Recording the stoppage with a right hand and follow-up ground strikes, Blaydes never once attempted a takedown against Daukaus in their 5:17 of combat. This marks the first time in Blaydes’ 15-fight UFC tenure where he did not even try to take his foe down.

Short-Distance Daukaus: As a pro, Daukaus has still only gone the distance one time. He has fought beyond the first round just seven times, with the majority of his defeats coming after the five-minute mark.

The Grasso is Greener on the Other Side: For the first time in her career, Alexa Grasso won by submission. Earning her first stoppage win since 2014, she made Joanne Wood tap out to a choke.

Knock on Wood: In all five of her stoppage losses in the UFC, Wood has been tapped in the opening frame following her rear-naked choke loss to Grasso in Round 1. The five first-round submission defeats for “Jojo” ties an all-time UFC record with Melvin Guillard.

Treat the Floor Like Lava: Wood has succumbed to five submissions in her UFC tenure. Among all female fighters to step foot in the Octagon, she is the first to tap out that many times. Overall, Clay Guida and Guillard hold the top spot with six sub losses apiece on the UFC roster.

“Bam Bam” Can Still Bam: Bryan Barberena and Matt Brown threw down for three rounds, with their spectacular battle earning them “Fight of the Night” honors. “Bam Bam” landed more significant strikes (111) on Brown than any of the prior 28 opponents to oppose him under the UFC banner.

A Wealthy Immortal: Brown’s post-fight bonus check was his eighth on the roster – including a FOTN against Robbie Lawler where Brown missed weight and still earned a bonus – tying Vicente Luque for the second-most of all fighters with matches scheduled at welterweight. Chris Lytle’s 10 stand above the pack.

Future UFC Hall of Famer? You Be the Judge: Neil Magny pocketed a hard-fought split decision win over Max Griffin to get his hand raised for the 19th time as a UFC welterweight. In doing so, “The Haitian Sensation” tied Georges St. Pierre for the most victories in divisional history.

No One Wants That Record: The victory on the scorecards was Magny’s 13th in the Octagon. By earning decision win number 13, Magny broke a tie with four others including St. Pierre for the most in promotional history.

D1 Diakiese: Landing 11 takedowns on Viacheslav Borshchev en route to a unanimous decision win, Marc Diakiese set a personal best with that mark. His 11 tie Gleison Tibau’s tally over Josh Neer at UFC 104 in 2009 for the third-most in the UFC’s lightweight division. Khabib Nurmagomedov landing 21 on Abel Trujillo at UFC 160 in 2013 are the most by a 155er.

Can Still Wrestle: Putting Karol Rosa on her back four times in their bout, Sara McMann further extended her own record for the most takedowns secured by a UFC women’s bantamweight fighter. With McMann at 27 now, the next closest competitor is ex-champ Amanda Nunes with 20.

Elbows for Emphasis: In the second round, Chris Gutierrez lamped Batgerel Danaa with a spinning back fist and follow-up elbows on the ground. There have now been nine spinning back fist knockouts in company history, and it is the only one to include elbows after landing the seminal blow.

Excuse Me, I’d Like to Askh You a Few Questions: Staying unbeaten by putting Denis Tiuliulin to sleep in the second round with a rear-naked choke, Aliaskhab Khizriev improved his spotless record to 14-0. The Russian celebrates an equal number of submissions to knockouts on his ledger, with finishes in five of his last six outings.

Couple Champ Goal Still Intact: Taking a relatively lackluster decision win over David Dvorak, Matheus Nicolau earned his fifth win in a row by taking 29-28 scores on all three cards. The Brazilian has not prevailed by stoppage in the UFC since his 2015 organizational debut, with his last five UFC victories coming at the hands of the judges.

Stellio…and Luis: Luis Saldana pocketed a decision win over Bruno Souza, earning him just his second decision win of his career. Before joining the UFC in 2021, every triumph for Saldana had come inside the distance, while his two UFC victories have come on the scorecards.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC on ESPN 33, Askar Askarov had never been defeated (15 fights), Danaa had never been finished (14 fights) and Jennifer Maia (28 fights) and Souza (12 fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts.

Always Tests His Might: For his entire UFC career, Blaydes has walked out to “Techno Syndrome,” the theme song for “Mortal Kombat” by The Immortals. Accompanied by the track, he celebrates a high win percentage of .786.

You Know You Look So Good: Ahead of his matchup with Brown, Barberena strode out to the cage with “Twist and Shout” performed by the Beatles playing in the arena. Fighters throughout UFC history have won an even 75% of their fights after selecting a walkout song from the Beatles.

Don’t You Start No Fight: Once again selecting “T.N.T” by AC/DC as her walkout track, Maia ultimately lost to Manon Fiorot by decision. Across organizational history, that specific song holds the lowest win percentage (.370) of any with at least 25 recorded uses.