Fight Facts: UFC 240
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 EVENTS: 487
The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday took a trip to Edmonton, Alberta, for the second time and did so with a card full of home-country fighters and a pivotal title bout on top. UFC 240 featured a discouraging record set by one of the headliners, a rare decision for a historic finisher and an unranked flyweight who holds more wins and stoppages than anyone in the division.
MAYBE HE WAS USED TO THE THIRD MAN: Although
commentator Joe Rogan only appears on North American pay-per-view
events for the UFC now, this event was his first since UFC 218 in
2017 -- a span of 16 shows that he has called -- where he did not
have a second color commentator joining him.
A DAMAGED BLESSING: The headlining appearance was Holloway’s 19th fight at 145 pounds, tying him with Darren Elkins for the most featherweight fights in UFC history. Elkins made his Octagon debut in March 2010, while Holloway first appeared in February 2012.
ONE MIGHTY FEATHER: With his decision victory over Frankie Edgar, Holloway extended his record for the most wins in the featherweight division to 16. The only other fighter who has won more than 10 times in the division is Elkins, who has 13 wins to his credit.
THERE’S ALWAYS BANTAMWEIGHT …: Edgar’s loss in a championship bout was his fifth. Only Randy Couture has lost more title fights (six).
FRANKIE FIVE TIMES: With his loss to Holloway, Edgar earned the unfortunate distinction as the first UFC fighter to ever lose five consecutive title bouts.
CERTAINLY NOT CYBORING: In needing three full rounds to beat Felicia Spencer, Cristiane Justino earned just her second decision win in her last 17 fights. The only other decision in that stretch came against Holly Holm at UFC 219 in 2017.
HER NICKNAME IS ‘VIVI’: By taking Alexis Davis the full 15 minutes, Viviane Araujo picked up the first decision win of her career. Her previous seven wins -- and lone loss -- all came by stoppage.
AVENGE ALEXIS: In dropping a decision to Araujo, Davis suffered her fifth defeat inside the Octagon. Only five women have lost more times in the UFC than Davis: Angela Hill, Cortney Casey, Jessica Eye, Kailin Curran and Randa Markos.
THE KICK IS GOOD!: With 51 seconds left in their bout, Hakeem Dawodu leveled Yoshinori Horie with a head kick to earn the latest head kick knockout in a UFC non-title fight. The only two head kick knockouts that came later were both performed by T.J. Dillashaw, as he finished Renan Barao and Joe Soto in the fifth round.
AND YET ROBERTSON IS UNRANKED: In becoming the first fighter to knock out Sarah Frota, Gillian Robertson also became the winningest flyweight in the division’s short history. All four of her victories have come before the final bell, so the Canadian also holds the divisional record for the most stoppages.
HER HAIR IS ON FIRE: Robertson’s battle with Frota was her fifth at 125 pounds, tying Roxanne Modafferi for the most women’s flyweight fights in UFC history. However, Modafferi fought two of those bouts at catchweights after her opponents missed weight.
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into UFC 240, Spencer had never been defeated (seven fights), Marc-Andre Barriault (13 fights) and Frota (10 fights) had never lost consecutive bouts and Sung Woo Choi had never been submitted (nine fights).
IMAGINE IF THAT SONG PLAYED IN HAWAII Holloway has now walked out to “Hawaiian Kickboxer” by Moke Boy for each of his last 15 outings. With the track, he holds a sterling record of 14-1.
HE’S SO WITTY: Three fighters at UFC 240 -- Robertson, Geoff Neal and Alexandre Pantoja -- walked out to tracks by 50 Cent, making this event the first in recorded history to feature three songs by the New York rapper. Neal chose to go with “Don’t Push Me,” Pantoja used “Many Men (Wish Death)” and Robertson walked out to “P.I.M.P.” Both Neal and Robertson won by knockout. Pantoja lost a decision.
Sherdog contributing editor Jay Pettry is an attorney and a statistician. Writing about MMA since he started studying the “Eminem Curse” in 2012 and working 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.
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