Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 148

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: 5,064
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 472

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday returned to Nashville, Tennessee, where it staged an event that provided some exciting matchups and gave fans plenty about which to cheer. UFC Fight Night 148 featured the first Superman punch knockout in a headliner, a rare stoppage from knees in a women’s bout and a couple of exciting prospects with bright futures.

SUPER PETTIS: Anthony Pettis became the fifth fighter in UFC history to finish an opponent with a Superman punch, as he floored Stephen Thompson with one in the second round. He is the first to score a Superman punch knockout in a headlining bout.

WHEREVER THE WIND MAY TAKE ME: By winning his welterweight debut, Pettis joins a small class of fighters who have won in three different weight classes during their UFC careers: Conor McGregor, Diego Sanchez, George Roop, Jared Cannonier, Kenny Florian, Manny Gamburyan and Vitor Belfort. Pettis earned his first lightweight win against Jeremy Stephens at UFC 136 in 2011, and at featherweight, he submitted Charles Oliveira at UFC on Fox 21 in 2016.

IT’S SHOWTIME: After scoring a “Performance of the Night” bonus for knocking out Thompson, Pettis has earned post-fight bonuses in each of his last four bouts. “Showtime” earned “Fight of the Night” in losses to Tony Ferguson and Dustin Poirier and another “Performance of the Night” for submitting Michael Chiesa with a triangle armbar at UFC 226.

TAKEDOWN HERO: By officially landing seven takedowns against Justin Willis, Curtis Blaydes set the all-time record for takedowns in UFC heavyweight history with 40. He eclipsed Cain Velasquez’s mark of 34.

HE’LL FIGUEIR IT OUT: Deiveson Figueiredo suffered his first career defeat at the hands of Jussier da Silva, who topped him on the scorecards. The bout was the third of Figueiredo’s career to go the distance. All 13 of his pro finishes have taken place in the first two rounds.

THE FUTURE IS IN THE FUTURE: Maycee Barber remained undefeated at 7-0 after overcoming adversity in the first round, as she stopped J.J. Aldrich in Round 2. In her seven career fights, “The Future” has finished six of those opponents.

USING ALL EIGHT LIMBS: Barber became the first fighter in the women’s flyweight division to finish an opponent with knee strikes and the sixth in UFC women’s divisional history to do so.

TEN POUNDS, NO PROBLEM: By finishing Aldrich at flyweight, Barber became the second female fighter in UFC history to finish opponents in two different weight classes. Amanda Nunes was the first, accomplishing that feat when she knocked out Cristiane Justino at UFC 232.

THUG LIFE: By edging Bobby Moffett on the scorecards, Bryce Mitchell improved his unbeaten record to 11-0. His first eight career victories all came by submission within two rounds, and his last three have gone the distance. The UFC bills him as 11-1 because he lost by submission to Brad Katona in a three-round bout on “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 27. However, because the fight was an exhibition, it does not go on his official pro record.

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into UFC Fight Night 148, Thompson had never been finished (18 fights), Willis had never lost on the scorecards (nine fights) and Aldrich had never been knocked out (nine fights).

TEST YOUR MIGHT: Blaydes has walked out to “Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat)” by The Immortals from the “Mortal Kombat” soundtrack in all nine of his Octagon appearances. With the track, he holds a solid record of 6-2 with one no-contest.

SHE WON THE FIGHT: After making her walk to the cage accompanied by “TNT” by AC/DC, Jennifer Maia took a decision over Alexis Davis. Her victory improved the track’s winning percentage to a recorded .333. Only three songs with at least 15 recorded uses have lower winning percentages than “TNT” does: “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC (.318) and Eminem’s “Cinderella Man” (.263) and “Lose Yourself” (.263).

RAGE AGAINST THE DEFEAT: Both Davis and Frankie Saenz walked out to tracks from Rage Against the Machine, with Saenz using “Calm Like a Bomb” and Davis using “Know Your Enemy.” Both lost.

Contributing editor Jay Pettry is an attorney and a statistician. Writing about MMA since he started studying the “Eminem Curse” in 2012 and writing for Vice Sports and Combat Docket along the way, he put together many fight result and entrance music databases to better study the sport. You can find him on twitter at @jaypettry.