Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 196 ‘Costa vs. Vettori’

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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: 6,344
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 582

The Ultimate Fighting Championship went head-to-head against three other noteworthy events at the same time, and it might have come out ahead thanks to its wacky headliner. The attention fully on the middleweight-turned-light heavyweight main event, the two delivered action for 25 full minutes. UFC Fight Night 196 featured a tremendous tally of strikes in said marquee matchup, a featherweight favorite in uncharted territory and a well-chosen shark-themed walkout track.

Euro Show for Euro Fans: Four European-based fighters competed at UFC Fight Night 196, and all four got their hands raised at the end. Marvin Vettori, Nicolae Negumereanu, Mason Jones and Jai Herbert each prevailed by night’s end.

Surprisingly Good Effort: Vettori and Paulo Costa combined for an incredible 353 significant strikes in their five-round battle, with Vettori pulling out the decision win. Their total passed Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s 351 for the fourth-most of any fight in company history. Only Max Holloway’s battles with Dustin Poirier, Brian Ortega and Calvin Kattar resulted in more.

Maybe Stop Cutting Weight: Both men eclipsed the UFC light heavyweight record for the most significant strikes landed in a single fight, with Costa getting 163 off while Vettori scored 190.

Tougher Borrachins: “Borrachinha” started off his career with 12 wins and 12 stoppages within two rounds. Since then, two of his last three have done the distance, and he had not lost on the scorecards until this point.

Finding the Glow: Hitting a rear-naked choke on Seung Woo Choi in the second round, Alex Caceres now finds himself on a five-fight win streak. “Bruce Leeroy” has never before won five bouts in a row in his career.

Nick is His Nickname: Demolishing Isaac Villanueva in 78 seconds, Negumereanu improved his career finish rate to 90.9%. Seven of his 10 stoppage victories have come by knockout.

Came in Like a Storm: In each of his last nine outings dating back to 2017, win or lose, “Hurricane Ike” Villanueva’s fights have ended by knockout. No bout in those nine have lasted longer than 5:56.

Obama’s Face on a 22-Year-Old’s Body: After a back-and-forth battle, Gregory Rodrigues knocked Jun Yong Park out in the second frame. “Robocop” lifted his career finish rate to 81.8%. Four of his last five victories have come by knockout before Round 3.

Watch for Onama: Putting on an impressive performance but falling short by decision to Jones, David Onama debuted and went to the judges for the first time in his career. Each of his first eight outings ended by stoppage victory for the Ugandan – who also became the first Uganda-born fighter to fight in the UFC.

Pepi Punished: Before making his 2018 UFC debut, all eight bouts for Laureano Staropoli ended by stoppage. Since joining the Las Vegas-based league, he has only gone the distance, while losing his last four following his decision defeat to Jamie Pickett.

Black Country Communion: “The Black Country Banger” Herbert earned his first UFC win in three tries by knocking Khama Worthy out. The Brit celebrates a career knockout rate of 81.8% now as a result.

Paid the Cost to Be El Jefe: A clean 80% of Jeff Molina’s wins have ended by stoppage, following his knockout of Daniel Lacerda early into the second frame.

A Record Filled with Holes: Taking the fight on short notice, Zviad Lazishvili suffered the first defeat of his career when he dropped a decision to Jonathan Martinez.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 196, Costa had never fought beyond the third round (14 fights), Park had never been knocked out (17 fights) and Souza (17 fights) and Joselyne Edwards (13 fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts.

When Will You Mohicans Learn: Differing from past appearances, Francisco Trinaldo mixed up his walkout by using a combination of his standard “Can’t Be Touched” by Body Head Bangerz along with “Promentory” from the “Last of the Mohicans” soundtrack. Not counting a no contest, the last 10 uses of “Can’t