Fight Facts: UFC on ESPN 17

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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: 5,864
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 540

The Ultimate Fighting Championship carried on at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas with a card kneecapped by a recent change in status for the winner of the main event. Nevertheless, the headliner victor delivered in spectacular fashion to re-assert himself as the rightful contender. UFC on ESPN 17 featured the new finish king at 205 pounds, a longtime vet still ringing in wins and a forearm choke in 2020.

Everyone’s Favorite Sub: UFC on ESPN 17 tied a multitude of other UFC cards for the fourth most rear-naked chokes at a single event in company history. “The Ultimate Fighter: Season 6” Finale, UFC on FX 1 and UFC on Fuel 2 all have seen the most, with four on those respective nights.

Magic in His Gloves: Tapping out Thiago Santos in the third round, Glover Teixeira now stands alone with the most finishes in UFC light heavyweight history with 12. His finish broke a tie he held with Ovince St. Preux, who fights again in December.

Age Is Only A Number: Six of Teixeira’s finishes have come by submission, giving the 41-year-old the most in UFC light heavyweight history. His tapout of Santos broke a tie with Jon Jones, Misha Cirkunov and St. Preux.

And Teixeira Beat Bader: The win was Teixeira’s 15th, placing him in the second spot along with Ryan Bader for the most in divisional history. Jones sits atop the list with 20 wins at 205 pounds.

Yet Another Reinvention for The Pit Bull: Taking a decision over Tanner Boser, Andrei Arlovski earned his 19th triumph in UFC competition. Although not yet in the top five among all UFC fighters, he has more than any other UFC heavyweight by a wide margin. Both Derrick Lewis and Junior dos Santos are closest to catching him, with 15 victories apiece.

Went Through A Lot of Hairstyles Along the Way: Arlovski’s appearance was his 33rd on the UFC roster, tying him with Jeremy Stephens for the third-most in UFC history. Jim Miller and Donald Cerrone each have 36 UFC fights. The next closest active heavyweight is Stefan Struve, who has competed 24 times inside the Octagon.

Rebuilding the Chin: Throughout his 20-year tenure with the UFC, Arlovski has now notched eight decision wins. His victory on the scorecards over Boser extends his lead over every other heavyweight, with dos Santos, Marcin Tybura and Stipe Miocic all trailing him with five apiece.

The Giga Kick Finally Landed: Giga Chikadze is the second UFC fighter to post four victories in 2020, after smashing James Krause-Simmons with a body kick, head kick and punches. He joins Kevin Holland, who did so the previous week. Both he and Holland intend on competing once more before the year ends.

China Taking Over Strawweight: By winning a decision against Claudia Gadelha, Xiaonan Yan won her sixth consecutive unanimous verdict in six UFC bouts. She is the second female fighter to go the distance in her first six fights inside the Octagon, but the first to win them all.

Still A Problem: Trevin Giles recorded his 11th career finish by knocking out Bevon Lewis in the third round. The stoppage for “The Problem” bolstered his stoppage rate to 85 percent.

Runaway Dump Truck: Alexander Romanov is now an impressive 13-0 with 13 finishes, including 10 in the first round, after putting Marcos Rogerio de Lima to sleep with a submission.

Tank-Esque: A move he had already used twice earlier in his career, Romanov pulled off the first forearm choke in the UFC since Dan Bobish finished Brian Johnston at UFC 14 in 1997.

Big Man Sleeper: Romanov’s forearm choke that rendered Rogerio de Lima unconscious is the first technical submission of its type in UFC history. Each of the previous forearm chokes forced the opponent to tap out.

The Damage Abides: Landing 120 strikes and hitting seven takedowns before submitting Luiz Eduardo Garagorri, Darren Elkins passed Max Holloway for the most strikes landed (2,032) and Dennis Bermudez for the most takedowns landed (48) in UFC featherweight history.

Win One for Combate Americas: Earning his first UFC win, Gustavo Lopez tapped out Anthony Birchak to lift his high stoppage rate to 92 percent. Lopez has finished his opponent in each of his last eight wins.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC on ESPN 17, Santos had never been finished outside of the first round (five stoppage losses), Garagorri had never lost consecutive bouts (14 fights) and Ramiz Brahimaj had never been finished (10 fights, two ears).

He’s Gonna Watch You Bleed: In each of his last five appearances, Teixeira has selected “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses as his walkout song. The former title challenger has won all five, while recording four stoppages along the way.

But Can We Find It? No : For most of his UFC career, Arlovski walked out to either Eminem or Johnny Cash. Since bucking that trend, and using “Watchdog” by Issaya instead, Arlovski has won three of four.