Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 212 ‘Grasso vs. Araujo’

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.

* * *

TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 6,847
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 623

The Ultimate Fighting Championship aired a fight card at the Apex to warm fans up before a tentpole event in Abu Dhabi. The stakes relatively low, with just one ranked matchup on the slate, but several moments and names stood out from the pack. UFC Fight Night 212 featured a tree getting chopped down by three mighty swings, an aging vet who should not yet be written off and a few consciousness-depriving knockouts.



Order UFC 280 "Oliveira vs. Makhachev" exclusively on ESPN+

A Steady Flyweight Trend: UFC Fight Night 212 was headlined by a women’s flyweight affair pitting Alexa Grasso against Viviane Araujo. It marked the fifth time that female fighters from this division have served as the main attraction, and all five have gone the full 25 minutes to result in unanimous decisions.

Grasso is Greener on the Other Side: After 10 fights on the roster, Grasso reached the final bell in eight of those. Her five-round decision win over Araujo lowered her career finish rate to 33%, and she has landed just one stoppage in her UFC tenure.

Johnny Swept the Leg: Jonathan Martinez put Cub Swanson down with a brutal leg kick in the second round of their meeting. His finish is the 16th stemming from leg kicks in company history, and the first for any male bantamweight competitor.

Coming into His Own: In the second round, Dusko Todorovic drummed out Jordan Wright with a series of punches and elbows. As a pro, 11 of his 12 career victories have come by finish, with eight by knockout within two rounds.

Road Work Required: Wright succumbed to strikes at 3:12 of the second round, and he has still yet to go the distance since turning professional in 2014. Wright had never before fought beyond 48 seconds into the second round in a pro bout.

Old Man’s Got Some Fight Left in Him: Via clear-cut decision, Raphael Assuncao picked up the win over Victor Henry to earn his 12th as a UFC bantamweight fighter. The only man with more is T.J. Dillashaw (13), although Aljamain Sterling could eclipse this total if he defeats Dillashaw next week.

Texas Train: In 88 seconds, Alonzo Menifield dispatched Misha Cirkunov with a hail of punches. The Texas native has rattled off 12 of his 13 pro wins inside the distance, with 10 via strikes.

Circa Not Survive: The knockout loss was Cirkunov’s fifth as a light heavyweight on the UFC roster. He shares the lead for the most defeats in this fashion in divisional history with Chuck Liddell, Jimi Manuwa, Mauricio Rua and Patrick Cummins.

Low on Mana: Leomana Martinez started his professional career by earning all seven of his wins by knockout. Since joining the UFC, he has pulled off two wins, with both on the scorecards.

Easiest Singles You’ll Find: After three grueling rounds, Jacob Malkoun amassed nine takedowns en route to a one-side decision win over Nick Maximov. In five UFC outings, Malkoun has now secured 30 takedowns, tying him with Ed Herman for the eighth-most in UFC middleweight history.

A Grinder’s Grinder’s Grinder: Just four previous middleweight scraps in UFC history have seen more takedowns landed by a fighter than Malkoun’s nine on Maximov. The record in a single 185-pound match is held in a two-way tie between Marvin Vettori over Kevin Holland, and Maximov against Punahele Soriano – both with 11.

Watch Out, Dan Ige: Joanderson Brito throttled late-notice newcomer Lucas Alexander with a first-round rear-naked choke. The explosive Brazilian has earned 12 of his 14 career wins by finish, while holding an even number of submissions to knockouts.

They’re Much Tougher Up Here: It took Piera Rodriguez three rounds to beat Sam Hughes, and in the process, she lifted her perfect record to 9-0. Although she started her career with five knockouts across six wins, she has since had her hand raised in bouts in a major promotion by unanimous verdict.

Mighty Tatsuro: Tatsuro Taira is now 12-0 after his armbar of C.J. Vergara, with nine wins coming inside the distance. He becomes the second flyweight in organizational history to land an armbar, as only Demetrious Johnson had performed them in the division before.

He Could Handle the Truth: Needing just 93 seconds to get his hand raised, Pete Rodriguez clobbered “The Truth” Mike Jackson with punches and a knee to end the fight. “Dead Game” and his foes have yet to live to hear the bell to end Round 1 after six pro fights, with all of his knockouts coming at 2:21 or sooner.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 212, neither Grasso nor Araujo had ever competed beyond the third round (17 and 14 fights, respectively), Swanson had never suffered multiple knockdowns (29 UFC and WEC fights) and Maximov had never dropped consecutive bouts (nine fights).

Will You Tremble with Fright: Henry remains the lone fighter in promotional history to walk out to a Goatwhore song, again selecting “Baring Teeth for Revolt.” Henry was less than successful in his sophomore effort in the Octagon.

My Music, My Way: As he has done for his whole UFC tenure, Brito picked “Tubarao” by Endrah as his custom-made entrance music. “Tubarao” is now one of a small number of UFC fighters to earn multiple wins after walking out to their own theme music, joining the likes of Matt Brown and Alistair Overeem.