Fight Facts: UFC 256

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

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: 5,913
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 545

The Ultimate Fighting Championship aired its final pay-per-view card of the year worthy of many year-end accolades. With “Fight of the Year” and “Knockout of the Year” candidates among the spectacular performances throughout the night, UFC 256 delivered from start to finish without exception. The event featured a record title turnaround, a pay-per-view distinction to go with it and the first corner stoppage among female fighters.

A Surprisingly Satisfying Conclusion: The majority draw between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno in the UFC 256 headliner is the first for a main event since Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva battled to a draw at UFC Fight Night 33 in 2013.

No One Will Ever Match That: Figueiredo engaged in the quickest turnaround of any champion to attempt to defend their belt, competing just 21 days ago. The previous record stood in a tie with Matt Hughes and Ronda Rousey, with 56 days each. Welterweight kingpin Hughes lost to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 65 after defending it at UFC 63 in 2006, while Rousey defended her bantamweight title against Miesha Tate at UFC 168 in 2013 and Sara McMann at UFC 170 in 2014.

He'd Marquee UFC 257 If He Could: Figueiredo is the first fighter to headline back-to-back UFC pay-per-view events since Tito Ortiz topped UFCs 50 and 51 in 2004 and 2005.

Way Better Than Wonderboy-Woodley: The draw with a belt on the line is the first in a title fight since Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson at UFC 205 in 2016.

Guess We’ll Run It Back in Three Weeks: With two judges scoring the fight even and a third giving it to Figueiredo, their draw is the third in UFC flyweight history – although the first between Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall should have gone to a “sudden victory” round.

The Fabulous Figueiredo: Figueiredo has competed in four prospective title fights – although one he was ineligible for the belt after missing weight – in 2020. He has twice as many as the next closest fighters, as five others have fought in two UFC championship bouts this year.

At the Drawing Board, Now What: Moreno fought to his second draw inside the Octagon, as he and Askar Askarov engaged in a split draw-winning battle at UFC Fight Night 159 in 2019. He is the fifth fighter in modern UFC history to earn multiple draws, joining B.J. Penn, Caol Uno, Lando Vannata and Marina Rodriguez.

Long Way to Catch Mighty Mouse: Both Moreno and Figueiredo earned their respective third post-fight bonuses for their “Fight of the Night” battle, tying them with Henry Cejudo, Louis Smolka and Tim Elliott for the third-most in divisional history. Joseph Benavidez (four) and Johnson (nine) stand atop the list.

Overwhelming the Overwhelmer: Oliveira defeated Ferguson by unanimous decision, earning his first decision win since beating Jeremy Stephens at the TUF 20 Finale in 2014. It is the first time “Do Bronx” has even gone the distance since that bout, a span of 14 fights.

Grappler Plus Grappler Equals Kickboxing: Both Mackenzie Dern and Virna Jandiroba came into their bout having never scored a knockout while never being finished. This unusual distinction remained intact after three rounds when Dern captured a hard-fought decision over “Carcara.”

Generating Power from Weird Angles: Kevin Holland achieved the unusual feat of knockout out an opponent from his back. The only previous UFC knockout like this came when Niko Price finished Randy Brown with hammerfists while on his back at UFC Fight Night 133 in 2018.

Chimaev Who? Holland is the first UFC fighter to earn five victories in 2020, and he will likely be the only one eligible to achieve this feat – only Giga Chikadze has won more than three bouts in 2020. Holland has won five fights in under seven months, a modern UFC record.

Watch the Mohawk Line: Ciryl Gane is now a perfect 7-0 after knocking out Junior dos Santos with an elbow. Six of the Frenchman’s seven victories have come inside the distance.

And They Keep Getting Worse: Former champion dos Santos suffered his seventh UFC knockout, tying him with Alistair Overeem, Andrei Arlovski and Antonio Silva for the fourth-most knockout losses in UFC heavyweight history. Frank Mir, Gabriel Gonzaga and Stefan Struve are all tied for the most with eight apiece.

Killer Cub: Cub Swanson knocked out Daniel Pineda in the second round to score his first stoppage victory since his 2013 knockout of Dennis Siver. At that time, six of the other 19 fighters on the card had yet to make their professional debuts, while another eight had yet to join the UFC roster.

Pop, Pop, Bang: Earning his ninth career win by sparking Renato Carneiro in the first round, Kyrgyzstan native Rafael Fiziev lifted his finish rate to 78 percent. A majority of his knockout wins came have come by clean KO.

Living to Fight Another Day: Tecia Torres earned the first knockout of her career when Sam Hughes was not able to continue after the five-minute mark. As Hughes’ corner stopped the fight, this marked the first corner stoppage TKO in women’s UFC history.

Corners Should Do This More Often: The corner stoppage finish is the first time a UFC cornerman has intervened to conclude the fight between rounds since UFC 232 in 2018, Douglas Silva de Andrade’s corner stopped his fight after 10 minutes of a one-sided beating at the hands of Petr Yan.

Hail Imanary: Chase Hooper hit a third-round heel hook to secure a comeback against Peter Barrett. Hooper’s heel hook is the first UFC featherweight history.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC 256, Figueiredo had never fought beyond the third round (21 fights), Ferguson had never dropped consecutive bouts (29 fights) and Hughes had never been knocked out (six fights).

Boosted by Booba: Gane walked out accompanied by French rapper Booba’s “Temps Mort” playing behind him. Gane pounded dos Santos, and throughout UFC history, fighters using Booba tracks sport a stellar winning percentage of .846.

Rocky Took His Licks: Both dos Santos and Pineda selected songs from soundtracks of various “Rocky” movies, with dos Santos using his staple of “Gonna Fly Now” by Bill Conti and Pineda opting for “It’s a Fight” by Three 6 Mafia. Both men suffered knockouts.