Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 209 ‘Gane vs. Tuivasa’

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: 6,799
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 619

The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its first jaunt to France a memorable one, giving the home country fans plenty to cheer about from start to finish. While little cleared up in the way of any championship pictures, thrilling performances and stellar knockouts helped this card deliver. UFC Fight Night 209 ended up as a spectacular night for French fighters, while featuring a heavyweight displaying nearly historic late finishing prowess and ending as a milestone evening for those sharing the name “Magomed.”

Vive la France! Five fighters from or representing France competed on this fight card: Ciryl Gane, Nassourdine Imavov, William Gomis, Fares Ziam and Benoit St. Denis. All five emerged victorious at night’s end.

Legwork Courtesy of B. Duffy: France is the 28th non-U.S. country in which the UFC has debuted, and the seventh where the promotion put a fighter native to the nation in its main event. Six of those headliners have now won, with only James Te Huna falling short in the first UFC New Zealand card in 2014.

Truly the Best Foot Forward: UFC Paris is the eighth show in organizational history that planted its flag in a new country and brought more than three competitors from said nation. It is the first of those where every single one prevailed.

Who’s Surrendering Now: While the French all enjoyed success, two Italians (Marvin Vettori and Alessio Di Chirico) and two other American competitors (Joaquin Buckley and Dustin Stoltzfus) competed at UFC Fight Night 209. All four of those foreign athletes lost.

The All-France Parlay Paid +832: Of the 12 matches on the bill, nine featured bouts with betting odds where a favorite closed at -150 or higher. Eight of those favored fighters won, with the lone substantial upset from “Smile Killer” Ziam (+175), who killed the -210 Michal Figlak’s smile en route to a decision win.

Modern Heavyweight: For the third time in his UFC tenure, Gane recorded a stoppage in Round 3, as he put Tai Tuivasa away with punches with 37 seconds left in the stanza. He ties Randy Couture and Derrick Lewis for the most third-round finishes in UFC heavyweight history. Lewis still maintains the divisional record for the most stoppages after the second round (four).

Worth a Half-Shoey: Although he ended up landing the knockout blows in the third round, Gane suffered a knockdown in Round 2 to Tuivasa. It marked the first time in his career that Gane had ever been dropped.

I Hit Pretty Hard: Robert Whittaker needed all three rounds to defeat Vettori. He has not scored a finish since April 2017 against Ronaldo Souza, over five years ago. Before this cold stretch, Whittaker had only once strung together two decision wins in a row.

Roman Legionary: Early into the third frame, Roman Kopylov dispatched Di Chirico to snap a two-fight skid. The Russian now celebrates a high career finish rate of 89%, with his last eight victories all coming inside the distance.

Sanding Down the Edges: Dating back to July 2020, Nathaniel Wood has gone the distance in four straight fights. Prior to this stretch that now includes a decision victory over Charles Jourdain, “The Prospect” had only seen the scorecards twice in 20 pro fights.

What Octagon Jitters: Abusupiyan Magomedov introduced himself to the UFC by starching Stoltzfus in 19 seconds with a front kick and follow-up punches. His finish is the 10th fastest in the company’s middleweight division.

Watch Out for Abus: With one more knockout under his belt, “Abus” now posts a clean finish rate of 80%. Across his last 15 wins, the only man to go the distance with the German newcomer born in Russia is current welterweight Sadibou Sy.

Can Confirm: Picking up knockout victory, Magomedov recorded the 50th UFC win for any fighter with “Magomed” in their name. Those fighters, who include the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Magomed Ankalaev and Zabit Magomedsharipov among others, celebrate a win-loss record of 50-8 (.862) in the Octagon.

Power Not Translating Up the Rankings: Snagging a decision over John Makdessi, Nasrat Haqparast ended a losing streak while continuing a five-fight stretch of judges’ verdicts. Haqparast started his career, win or lose, with nine straight finishes.

War Were Declared: St. Denis became the first French fighter to compete on a UFC card in France when he faced off against Brazilian debutant Gabriel Miranda. “God of War” made the most of it by blasting Miranda in the second round with punches, and kept his 100% finish rate intact as well.

No More Egg on Her Face: Starting off the night by tapping Ailin Perez with a second-round rear-naked choke, Stephanie Egger became the 12th women’s featherweight to pick up a win inside the Octagon. She is only the sixth fighter to procure a stoppage in that weight class.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 209, Figlak had never lost in professional MMA, Jourdain had never dropped consecutive bouts (19 fights), Stoltzfus (18 fights) and Taha (18 fights) had never been knocked out and Perez had never been finished (eight fights).

Voulez-Vous Bagarre Avec Moi: As to be expected, Tuivasa walked out to a unique walkout song for his UFC Fight Night 209 entrance. He selected “Lady Marmalade” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya and Pink, as famously covered for the “Moulin Rouge!” soundtrack. “Bam Bam” won over some of the crowd but did not prevail in the fight itself.

Taking That Song Literally Against Vettori: Rolling with his traditional choice of “Can’t Be Touched” by rap group Body Head Bangerz, Whittaker pulled off another win accompanied by it. He posts a 13-1 record while accompanied by the Roy Jones Jr.-helmed tune, while making it the third track in UFC history to reach 50 recorded uses. Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold” and Bill Conti’s “Gonna Fly Now” hit that total first.