Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 223 ‘Dern vs. Hill’

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: 7,151
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 648

The Ultimate Fighting Championship ends its May run in the UFC Apex, cooling down with a fight card light on name recognition but high in firepower. Several thrilling knockouts and exciting back-and-forth scraps treated fans during the previously derided fight card. UFC Fight Night 223 featured a surprising striking total for a pure grappler, a kicker that has it both ways and the most knocked out man of 2023.

Letting Her Hands Go: Dern landed her second knockdown after 11 UFC outings, putting Hill down in the opening frame. Her first came against Amanda Bobby Brundage in 2018.

Threat in Every Arena: Dern officially grounded Hill three times over their 25-minute engagement. This now sets a personal best in the Octagon for the grappler, who had never before performed more than two in a UFC match.

K-1 Dern: Far and away the greatest one-fight total in her promotional tenure thus far, Dern landed a whopping 126 significant strikes on her opponent. This is her first trip over the century mark, as she had previously maxed out at 82 against Virna Jandiroba in 2020.

Fists Finding Faces: Albeit in a deflating loss, Hill managed to connect with 66 significant strikes on her opponent. This gives her a total of 1,820, which surpasses Frankie Edgar for the second-most in company history. Max Holloway stands alone with an incredible 3,122.

Give Her Seven More: Hill competed for the 23rd time as a UFC fighter when she faced Dern. “Overkill” only trails Jessica Andrade when it comes to total appearances for a female fighter, with the ex-champ fighting 24 times in the UFC.

A Record Someone Must Hold: Hill suffered her 13th defeat as a member of the UFC roster. She adds to her own record with the organization, and the next closest women of Jessica Eye and Randa Markos have 10 losses apiece.

Only Fluffy on the Inside: About a minute into the third round, Anthony Hernandez pounded Edmen Shahbazyan out with elbows and punches. “Fluffy” has recorded 82% of his pro wins inside the distance, but this marked only his second via strikes.

Loopy Amounts of Cage Time: In a short-notice 120-pound catchweight contest with Emily Ducote, Lupita Godinez came out with the unanimous decision win. The Mexican known as “Loopy” has heard the final bell in 11 of her 13 pro fights, including each of her last six.

He Lives by the Kick: Late into the second round, Joaquin Buckley put Andre Fialho away with a head kick. “New Mansa” joins an illustrious group now composed of seven members that have both won and lost UFC outings by head kick. He joins Alessio Di Chirico, Andre Fili, Holly Holm, Josh Thomson, Julio Arce and Ronaldo Souza.

Buckley Found His Weight Class: The head kick for the returning welterweight snapped a two-fight skid, while registering his 12th pro stoppage. All of his finishes have come by knockout, accounting for exactly 75% of his victories.

Highlight Reeled ‘The Menace’: Diego Ferreira returned from a lengthy layoff to posterize Michael Johnson with one punch. The Fortis MMA product becomes only the second lightweight to knock the durable Johnson out, with the first Justin Gaethje back in 2017.

Slava Claus on Summer Break: Getting back in the win column, Viacheslav Borshchev cleaned Maheshate Hayisaer’s clock after recording his third knockdown. Born in Russia and training in California, the Team Alpha Male rep has earned 86% of his triumphs from his strikes.

Back to Title Contention: Lifting her UFC record over .500 for the first time since 2019, Karolina Kowalkiewicz outworked Vanessa Demopoulos to earn a decision win. After eight UFC wins, the Polish woman has earned just won stoppage, and her finish rate fell to a low 27%.

Best Urbina of the Bunch: In Round 2, Gilbert Urbina stopped the heavy Orion Cosce with a front kick to the body and follow-up knees. With Cosce missing the welterweight cap by 1.5 pounds – and Demopoulos losing too – UFC fighters coming in overweight saw their win percentage drop to .357 so far in 2023.

Smarter Than the Average Sledgehammer: For the second time in his pro career, Rodrigo Nascimento heard the final bell, beating Ilir Latifi. This accounts for his last two fights, in which he pocketed two split decisions. “Yogi Bear” now sports a stoppage rate of 80%.

Filling Out His Frame: Successfully moving up to 155 pounds, Chase Hooper outstruck and outgrappled Nick Fiore en route to a unanimous verdict. The 23-year-old has perfectly alternated wins and losses since joining the roster in 2019, with seven fights following this pattern thus far.

Natty Power: Clobbering Victoria Leonardo with punches and a head kick, Natalia Silva ran her UFC win streak to three with the first-round finish. The Brazilian fighter has earned stoppages in 12 of 15 pro wins, accounting for 80% of her victories.

Better Results Than Shevchenko: Facing Leonardo as a -900 favorite on some books, Silva closed as the largest betting favorite for a female fighter in the UFC this year, tied with Valentina Shevchenko against Alexa Grasso.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 223, Dern had never won a fight that went beyond the third round (15 fights), Maheshate had never been finished (11 fights) and Fiore had never dropped consecutive bouts (seven fights).

Footloose, Handloose, Whatever: For the fifth time as a UFC fighter, Ferreira went with Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose” for his entrance tune. He is the only fighter to ever pick this song in promotional history, and with it, his win percentage sits at a high .800.

He Decided Not to Take It Anymore: Selecting “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister as his walkout song, Borshchev decimated Maheshate. He is the first fighter to pick a song from this heavy metal band since Costas Philippou did so at UFC Fight Night 35 in 2014.