Fight Facts: UFC on ESPN 58 ‘Perez vs. Taira’

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: 7,715
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 694

The Ultimate Fighting Championship trudged on with its relentless schedule, throwing a fight card at its headquartered location of the UFC Apex in sharp contrast to the WWE show the week before. Most of the results were anything but entertaining, and the cherry on top came with an injury in the main attraction. UFC on ESPN 58 featured a new landmark for a beloved announcer, a Japanese flyweight that will win at any cost and a perennial underdog suddenly boosted to big odds.

Escape the Apex: At UFC on ESPN 58, also known as UFC Vegas 93, the promotion staged its 100th event at the UFC Apex. This fight card was the 10th in this building this year.

Smokin’ Joe Gonna Go: Joe Martinez reached the milestone of his 100th fight card as the in-cage announcer. Bruce Buffer is the only other one to reach this total with the UFC.

Rough Ending to a Rough Night: Tatsuro Taira is one of 11 fighters in UFC history to earn an injury stoppage TKO win during a main attraction. His opponent, Alex Perez, sustained a knee injury in the second round. Taira is the first flyweight to do so and the first to earn a post-fight bonus after getting his hand raised for that reason.

A Challenger in Japan: Taira remained unbeaten at 16-0 with the victory over Perez. The Japanese contender joins names like Daniel Marcos, Michael Morales, Umar Nurmagomedov, Movsar Evloev and Shavkat Rakhmonov in the promotion with undefeated records of this magnitude or greater.

Champions or Contenders, All: As he moved up the flyweight ladder, Taira has earned five wins—his sixth over Edgar Chairez came at 130 pounds. He is one of six 125ers to ever achieve this feat, with a club whose membership includes Deiveson Figueiredo, Muhammad Mokaev, Alexandre Pantoja, Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson.

Tense but Boring: Needing all three rounds to get past Douglas Silva de Andrade, Miles Johns settled for the decision win. The Marathon MMA fighter has reached Round 3 in his last seven outings and 10 of his last 11 fights. Win or lose, no fight for Johns has ended in the first frame.

There’s That Wall: After 15 minutes elapsed, Brazilian finisher Lucas Almeida watched his 100% stoppage rate dissipate to 93% courtesy of a decision triumph over Timothy Cuamba. It marked the fifth time that Almeida had gone to the third round.

His Jitsu is Sik: Brady Hiestand got the upper hand and submitted Garrett Armfield with a rear-naked choke. The Washington native has earned three-quarters of his pro wins inside the distance.

Hat Needs Improvement: For the 16th time in a row, Asu Almabaev won a fight. He topped Jose Johnson on the scorecards to do so. The man from Kazakhstan has fought beyond the first round in his last eight appearances.

Fugitt About It: Via split decision, Adam Fugitt claimed the win over Josh Quinlan. The win at the hands of the judges is Fugitt’s second and first since March 2017.

Reversal of Fortunes: Nathan Maness closed as a massive -800 betting favorite before outpointing Jimmy Flick. In his entire UFC run, Maness had never served as a favorite after six fights while coming in at a pick ‘em against Johnny Munoz Jr. in his promotional debut.

Fists Flying Every Which Way: Throwing down for three hard rounds and earning “Fight of the Night” for their handiwork, Gabriella Fernandes picked up the close split decision over Carli Judice. The two combined for 288 significant strikes in their battle, clocking into the top five for the most sig strikes landed in a UFC women’s flyweight affair.

Wilson Goes West: Westin Wilson picked up his first UFC victory in under two minutes by landing a triangle armbar on Jeka Saragih. Wilson retains his 100% finish rate, with his last 14 fights ending in the first round.

Don’t Be Cranky: Melquizael Costa hit a face crank on Nuerdanbieke Shayilan to earn win no. 21 as a pro. He has a perfectly even method of victory distribution, with seven knockouts, seven submissions and seven decisions. On the other side of his ledger, he has lost seven times.

It Just Takes Time: Josefine Lindgren Knutsson won via decision over Julia Polastri to boost her pro record to 8-0. The Swede has gone to decision in seven of her eight wins.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC on ESPN 58, Almeida had never won on the scorecards (17 fights), Cuamba had never dropped consecutive bouts (10 fights) and no six-foot-tall fighter had competed at the UFC’s flyweight division (Johnson).

Power to the Taira: In all six UFC outings, Taira has selected “Power to the People” by John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band. The 24-year-old from Okinawa has won every time.

Mexe, Mexe, Sem Parar: Switching up his entrance music, Costa selected “Funk do Patinho,” a song from Brazilian children’s television show “Bento e Toto.” Costa got his hand raised as the first person to pick a tune from this show.