Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 251 ‘Cannonier vs. Rodrigues’

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all 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: 8,044
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 721

The Ultimate Fighting Championship put forth its next effort in a lengthy slate of consecutive weekends, airing out the UFC Apex for some combat. The stakes were less-than-high but a number of competitors performed admirably. UFC Fight Night 251 featured a new member of the “Round 4 Squad,” a heavyweight heel hook and some sweet justice for a longtime veteran.

Marginally Impressive: Six of the 12 victors at this event came in with a single loss on their respective records. None of those six added to their losing column.

Win Some, Lose Some: Only seven stoppages in Round 4 have taken place across all UFC middleweight bouts, following Jared Cannonier’s dismantling of Gregory Rodrigues. Among those other 185ers to fall short in the fourth frame? Cannonier.

The Round 4 Squad: With both a victory and defeat in the fourth stanza on Cannonier’s ledger, he is now a member of a seven-fighter group that includes B.J. Penn and Derrick Lewis that have achieved this unfortunate distinction.

Power Even at 40: “The Killa Gorilla” notched his fifth knockout in the middleweight division, putting him tied with a slew of other names with the ninth-most. Anderson Silva, Thiago Santos and Uriah Hall all share the lead with eight apiece.

Slow the Hype Train: Watching his finish rate fall to 76%, Youssef Zalal survived a late comeback from Calvin Kattar to win a decision. It marked the first time he had prevailed on the scorecards since his first stint in the UFC when he outworked Peter Barrett in 2020.

The Kind of Guy Edmen Should Beat: It took Edmen Shahbazyan 95 seconds to dismantle Dylan Budka, further lifting his stoppage rate to 93%. Of his 13 wins inside the distance, 12 have taken place in Round 1.

Not So Good Brother: Courtesy of a sight-depriving head kick, Nazim Sadykhov forced the doctors to intervene and save Ismael Bonfim from further damage at the end of the first frame. The Azerbaijan-based competitor has seen nine of his 10 pro wins come before the final bell.

Wins are Wins: Pennsylvania’s Andre Petroski started his pro career with eight wins and a knockout loss. Since then, the grappler has not been able to finish an opponent, earning all five of his decision victories from 2022 to his unanimous verdict over Rodolfo Vieira.

DelGot You: In less than three minutes, Jose Delgado introduced himself to UFC brass by punching out Connor Matthews. The MMA Lab representative has never left a win in the hands of the judges.

Total Vindication: After numerous split calls going for her opponent, Angela Hill earned the first split decision win over her career against Ketlen Souza. In her 24 appearances on this second stint with the promotion, Hill has heard the final horn on 20 of those occasions.

Overkill Time: The victorious Hill set or added to a plethora of strawweight records by getting her hand raised. She remains the winningest 115er (12) with the most walks to the cage by far (26) along with the most decision victories (nine), highest fight time by almost two hours, most significant strikes landed (2,037) and more.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat, Mop the Mats: Outgrappling Jesus Santos Aguilar for the good part of 15 minutes, Rafael Estevam kept his unbeaten record intact while landing 11 takedowns. Only three UFC flyweights have hit more in a single bout: Demetrious Johnson (twice), Tim Elliott and Muhammad Mokaev.

Good Brother: With seconds left in the second round, Gabriel Bonfim snared Kalinn Williams with a brabo choke that put “Khaos” to sleep. He has performed 16 of his 17 pro wins by stoppage, including a lucky 13 by sub.

Oh Vince: By losing to Elijah Smith, Vince Morales’ UFC record fell to three wins opposite seven defeats. The .300-win percentage after at least 10 bouts is among the lowest in UFC history, but none is lower than Chase Sherman’s .267.

Have Heel Will Travel: In the modern era, five different heel hooks have taken place at the heavyweight division. By tapping Don'Tale Mayes, Valter Walker became the first to notch more than one, while Mayes became the first to succumb to multiple heel hooks.

Geologist Extraordinaire: After a decision loss to Jacqueline Cavalcanti, Julia Avila left her gloves in the center of the Octagon. The California-born “competitive snuggler” once appeared on an episode of “South Park” in her fight kit, while leaving behind a sport where she claimed wins over names like Nicco Montano, Pannie Kianzad and Julija Stoliarenko.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 251, Rodrigues had never competed beyond the third round (21 fights), I. Bonfim had never been knocked out (24 fights) and Williams had never been submitted (18 fights).

Eazy Duz It: A new one among walkout tracks, Cannonier went with Eazy-E’s “Eazy-Er Said Than Dunn” and prevailed. Other Eazy-E tracks played before include “Boyz-n-the-Hood” and “Switchez,” but never this one.

Here Comes Deebo: Ahead of his match with Walker, Mayes walked out to “Deebo’s Theme” from the “Friday” soundtrack, written by Frank Fitzpatrick. Mayes did not get knocked out the [expletive] out, but he did succumb to a rare submission.