Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 221 ‘Yan vs. Dvalishvili’

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: 7,043
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 639

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to a venue old school fans should fondly remember, and newer audiences will learn plenty more about soon. Still in Las Vegas but taking a break from the Apex, the fighters had a solid crowd to voice approval or disapproval at the night’s action. UFC Fight Night 221 featured an unmatched grappling performance, a 215-pound all-action frenzy and the sudden conclusion of a long career.

Lit Up the Joint: At multiple early Fight Night cards including UFC Fight Nights 2, 3, 4 and 5, the UFC posted up in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, also known as “The Joint.” For the first time since the Finale of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson” in 2012 – also known as TUF 16 – the promotion went back to this arena. The Theater at Virgin Hotels is the rebuilt and upscaled version of “The Joint.”

Maddening Pace: After 25 minutes of domination, Merab Dvalishvili stamped himself a top contender by taking out Petr Yan. “The Machine” did move his decision rate to 75% by involving the judges in the final tallies, with eight of his nine UFC victories coming on the scorecards.

Also the Record for Most Missed: Over the course of five rounds, Dvalishvili attempted an astonishing 49 takedowns, while landing 11. This tally blows away Cain Velasquez’ previous record of 33 on Junior dos Santos at UFC 155 in 2012, and Velasquez also secured 11 that night.

Snatch Singles for Everybody: Registering 11 takedowns en route to a clear-cut win over Yan, Dvalishvili upped his total inside the Octagon to 74. The Georgian sits tied with Demetrious Johnson with the fourth-most in company history. Clay Guida (76), Gleison Tibau (84) and Georges St. Pierre (90) are the only men above them now.

Totally Not Significant: Coming into this matchup, Dvalishvili had landed 1,367 total strikes in his 10 bantamweight encounters. Adding 202 to reach 1,569, he passes T.J. Dillashaw for the most in the UFC’s 135-pound history. In terms of significant strikes, his 682 now do not reach the leaderboard.

Convincing One Judge at a Time: As a bantamweight in the UFC, Dvalishvili notched his seventh decision win. This ties Takeya Mizugaki for the second-most in divisional history, and they trail fellow UFC Fight Night 221 competitor Raphael Assuncao’s nine.

Defense Machine: Even though he ultimately stuffed 38 takedowns, Yan still succumbed to 11 in his fight with “The Machine.” This total serves as more surrendered than his other 11 UFC outings combined (seven).

Alex on Alex Violence: Alexander Volkov obliterated Alexander Romanov to procure the first-round finish in the co-main event. “Drago” has successfully earned exactly 75% of his wins by stoppage, including 17 in the first round.

Been Waiting Weeks to Do This: In the opening frame, Nikita Krylov throttled Ryan Spann with a triangle choke. “The Miner” pulled off his 30th win by beating Spann, with 28 of those coming inside the distance. Twenty-three of those 28 stoppage have taken place in Round 1.

More Than a Kicker: Mario Bautista handled Guido Cannetti with a first-round rear-naked choke to move his win streak to four. With three straight submissions in the opening frame, Bautista’s finish rate bumped up to 75%, with half of his victories via tapout.

Easier Work Than Expected: The MMA Lab product closed as the biggest betting favorite of the night by far, with -1000 odds in his favor against the +650 Cannetti. So far this year, all four UFC athletes favored with -1000 margins or higher have won their fights. Amanda Nunes in 2021 remains the last competitor with that line or higher to suffer a loss in the Octagon.

Not a Cann: Cannetti suffered his fourth loss by submission when surrendering to Bautista. In the history of the UFC, just 15 different competitors have lost more times via sub, with Clay Guida’s seven the most of any fighter.

Many Nicknames, Many Knockouts: After three rounds of action, Vitor Petrino earned his first UFC win by beating Anton Turkalj. “Icao” lowered his finish rate to 75% by hearing the final bell, and moved his undefeated record to 8-0.

Inverted, Not Reverse: In the waning seconds of their fight, Davey Grant put Raphael Assuncao to sleep with an inverted triangle choke. His is the second choke of this variety in company history, joining Jordan Leavitt’s over Matt Sayles. Three other inverted triangles were used in landing kimuras, as Cole Miller, Luke Rockhold and Olivier Aubin-Mercier pulled off inverted triangle kimuras in the past.

You Are Now Entering the Danger Zone: “Dangerous Davey” moved his high finish rate to 87% by rendering Assuncao unconscious. A whole 60% of his stoppage wins have come by submission.

Yes, That Jorge: Following his loss, Assuncao retired. The 40-year-old from Brazil leaves the sport with a record of 28-10 including 12 wins inside the Octagon. The perennial contender has lodged victories over the likes of Aljamain Sterling, T.J. Dillashaw, Rob Font, Marlon Moraes and Jorge Masvidal among many others.

Setting Records Right at the End: Tolling 14:43 of cage time in his final appearance, Assuncao claimed the top spot at bantamweight for the most time spent in the Octagon. His three hours, 44 minutes and 19 seconds eclipsed Urijah Faber’s 3:40:33.

Good: In his third effort, Josh Fremd earned his first UFC win by hitting a guillotine choke on Sedriques Dumas. The Pennsylvania native has seen five of his last six wins come inside the distance, while posting a finish rate of 80%.

Tapping the Puncher: Putting Tyson Nam out with a rear-naked choke, “Bulldog” Bruno Silva landed his first submission since 2014. In the process, he became the first fighter to ever submit the well-traveled 35-fight veteran Nam.

Should Have Told Somebody: Carlston Harris outworked Jared Gooden to take home a decision, going the distance for the first time since 2017 – a span of seven fights. Gooden came in six pounds heavy, and in five UFC bouts this year where one competitor missed weight, heavy fighters have won just once.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 221, Romanov had never been finished (17 fights), Turkalj had never lost on the scorecards (nine fights) and Dumas had never been defeated (seven fights).

Drinks on Him: Turkalj remains the sole fighter in UFC history to make his entrance accompanied by Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” featuring Timbaland. As a result, the song still has a winless record inside the Octagon.

Not So Awesome Now: At Bellator 292, Benson Henderson walked out to “Awesome God” by R-Swift. At this fight card, Assuncao did the same. Both men lost, suffered finishes and retired after their bouts.