Author: Trent Reinsmith

A running tally of important stats and records for all UFC events in 2023

The UFC wrapped up its first quarter of 2023 on March 25 with a fight card in San Antonio. The affair was the promotion’s 10th event of the year. The UFC is off this weekend. However, the organization returns to action on April 8 with UFC 287, an ESPN+ streaming pay-per-view card headlined by a rematch between current UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira and ex-titleholder Israel Adesanya. That event kicks off a run of 11 cards the promotion has booked for the year’s second quarter.

The first three months of 2023 were momentous for the promotion, with several UFC records broken over that time. The fighters who added their names to the promotion’s record book were a mix of veterans and relative newcomers to the promotion. Jon Jones, Shavkat Rakhmonov, Jessica Andrade, Jim Miller, Erin Blanchfield, Mayra Bueno Silva, and Gunnar Silva all broke or set UFC records between January 14 and March 25, 2023.

Before the UFC gets back to action with UFC 287, we look back at the important stats, fights, and records from the first three months of UFC bouts in 2023.

Total Fights: 123

Title Fights: 7

Unanimous Decisions: 38

Split Decisions: 14

Majority Decisions: 5

Majority Draws: 2

KOs/TKOs: 29

Submissions: 35

Types of Finishes

Submissions

• Rear Naked Choke: 17
• Guillotine Choke after Drop to Guard: 2
• Arm Triangle from Half Guard: 2
• Triangle Choke from Bottom Guard: 2
• Guillotine Choke on Ground: 1
• Guillotine Choke from Bottom Guard: 1
• Kneebar on Ground: 1
• Arm Triangle from Mount: 1
• Arm Triangle on Ground: 1
• Armbar from Side Control: 1
• Triangle Armbar from Bottom Guard: 1
• Guillotine Choke from Half Guard: 1
• Guillotine Choke after Drop to Half Guard: 1
• Inverted Triangle from Bottom Side Control: 1
• Armbar from Mount: 1
• Neck Crank from Back Control: 1

Knockouts and Technical Knockouts

• Punch to Head at Distance: 6
• Punches to Head at Distance: 3
• Elbows to Head from Mount: 2
• Doctor Stoppage: 2
• Punches to Head in Clinch: 2
• Punches to Head on Ground: 2
• Punches to Body at Distance: 2
• Flying Knee to Head: 1
• Kick to Body at Distance: 1
• Knees to Body at Distance: 1
• Knees to Head in Clinch: 1
• Punches to Head from Back Control: 1
• Punches to Head from Guard: 1
• Punches to Body at Distance: 1
• Punches to Head from Corner Stoppage: 1
• Punches to Head from Mount: 1
• Leg injury: 1
• Elbows to Head on Ground

Fights by Weight Division

• Heavyweight: 9
• Light heavyweight: 11
• Middleweight: 12
• Welterweight: 13
• Lightweight: 19
• Featherweight: 14
• Women’s Featherweight: 1
• Bantamweight: 14
• Catchweight: 2
• Women’s bantamweight: 3
• Flyweight: 12
• Women’s Flyweight: 11
• Women’s strawweight: 2

UFC Stat Totals in 2023

• Total Knockdowns Landed: 36
• Total Submission Attempts: 90
• Total Reversals: 39
• Total Significant Strikes Attempted: 22.344
• Total Significant Strikes Landed: 10,906
• Total Significant Head Strikes Attempted: 16,726
• Total Significant Head Strikes Landed: 6,543
• Total Significant Body Strikes Attempted: 3,402
• Total Significant Body Strikes Landed: 2,536
• Total Significant Leg Strikes Attempted: 2,216
• Total Significant Leg Strikes Landed: 1,814
• Total Significant Distance Strikes Attempted: 19,428
• Total Significant Distance Strikes Landed: 8,693
• Total Significant Clinch Strikes Attempted: 1,773
• Total Significant Clinch Strikes Landed: 1,3465
• Total Significant Ground Strikes Attempted: 1,143
• Total Significant Ground Strikes Landed: 858
• Total Strikes Attempted: 27,804
• Total Strikes Landed: 15,507
• Total Takedowns Attempted: 808
• Total Takedowns Landed: 286

Memorable Fight Stats in 2023

Shortest Five-Round Fight: Jon Jones submits Ciryl Gane at 2:04 of Round 1 via guillotine choke at UFC 285.

Shortest Three-Round Fight: Rinya Nakamura KOs Toshiomi Kazama at 0:33 of Round 1 via punch to head at distance at UFC Vegas 68.

Latest Finish in a Three-Round Fight: Davey Grant submits Raphael Assuncao via inverted triangle from bottom side control at 4:43 of Round 3 at UFC Vegas 71.

Most Takedowns Landed: Loik Radzhabov lands 11 takedowns on 21 attempts vs. Esteban Ribovics at UFC 285 and Merab Dvalishvili lands 11 takedowns on 49 attempts vs. Petr Yan (five round fight) at UFC Vegas 71.

Most Submission Attempts: HyunSung Park three submission attempts against SeungGuk Choi, Jimmy Crute three submission attempts against Alonzo Menifield, Clayton Carpenter with three submission attempts vs. Juancamilo Ronderos and Joe Solecki with three submission attempts vs. Carl Deaton.

Most Knockdowns Landed: Rinya Nakamura scores two knockdowns on Toshiomi Kazama , Alonzo Menifield scores two knockdowns on Jimmy Crute and Trevor Peek with two knockdowns vs. Erick Gonzalez.

Most Significant Strikes Landed in a Three-Round Fight: Jessica Andrade lands 231 of 369 significant strike attempts in unanimous decision win over Lauren Murphy.

Shutouts: Serghei Spivac prevents Derrick Lewis from landing any strikes or takedowns during their UFC Vegas 68 main event fight.

First career UFC takedown: Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev at UFC 268.

New UFC records in 2023

Jon Jones became the eighth double-champion in UFC history.

Jon Jones broke his own UFC record with 15 title fight wins.

Shavkat Rakhmonov became the first UFC welterweight to open his run with the promotion with five straight finishes.

Jamahal Hill lands 232 significant strikes in a UFC light heavyweight fight for a new UFC LHW single-fight record. Hill defeated Glover Teixeira to by unanimous decision to win the UFC light heavyweight title.

Jessica Andrade lands 231 significant strikes in a UFC women’s flyweight fight for a new UFC women’s flyweight record. Andrade defeated Lauren Murphy via unanimous decision.

Jessica Andrade tied Amanda Nunes for most wins in women’s UFC history with her 15th victory with the promotion.

Jim Miller participated in his 41st fight in the UFC. Andrei Arlovski is second to Miller with 39 UFC bouts.

With his one submission attempt vs. Alexander Hernandez, Jim Miller has the most submission attempts in UFC history with 47. Charles Oliveira is second with 40 submission attempts.

Jim Miller has 38 fights in the UFC lightweight division. Three other fighters: Clay Guida, Gleison Tibau and Joe Lauzon are tied for second with 27 fighters each.

Jim Miller has 6:18:59 of UFC lightweight fight time. Clay Guida is second with 5:10:50.

Jim Miller has 44 submission attempts in UFC lightweight fights. Joe Lauzon is second with 29.

Erin Blanchfield has a control time percentage of 55.4 percent in UFC flyweight fights. Taila Santos is second with 46.3 percent.

Erin Blanchfield has a top position percentage of 48.6 percent in UFC flyweight fights. Gillian Robertson is second at 41.9 percent.

Erin Blanchfield averages 1.57 submissions per 15 minutes of UFC women’s flyweight fight time. Taila Santos is second at 1.5.

Mayra Bueno Silva secures first kneebar submission in UFC women’s bantamweight history.

Gunnar Nelson sets UFC welterweight record with seven career submission wins.

Stats via UFC Stats

Bloody Elbow reached out to all state athletic commissions and asked them if they were considering sanctioning slap fighting

Despite lackluster ratings and TBS declining to re-up for a second season, UFC president Dana White remains bullish on the future prospects of Power Slap.

During the UFC 286 post-fight press conference, White fielded a question about Power Slap- from a “journalist” who also asked for a job as Power Slap matchmaker – about his professional slap fighting league.

“A lot of people were shitting on this thing,” White said of Power Slap, “Watch what we do with this thing over the next two years… What we’re doing now is we’re going out and getting this thing sanctioned everywhere.”

Bloody Elbow checked on White’s claim that “We’re going out and getting this thing sanctioned everywhere.” To do so, we contacted every state with an athletic commission about the prospect of holding sanctioned slap fighting events under their jurisdiction. We found is that White’s claim was, at best, a stretch.

The question we sent was simple, asking each commision “if slap fighting has been approved by your athletic commission or if your commission is currently considering approving slap fighting as a sanctioned combat sport.”

What follows are the replies from each commission Bloody Elbow contacted:

• Alabama: Slap fighting is illegal per the commission website.
• California: The Commission is not considering slap fighting.
• Colorado: Slap fighting is not currently approved or under consideration by the Colorado Combative Sports Commission.
• Connecticut: At this time slap fighting has not been legalized or approved in the State of Connecticut and it is not up for consideration at this time.
• Florida: At this time, the Florida Athletic Commission (FAC) has not made a decision on slap fighting and there is no set date for a decision to be made. The FAC is planning to discuss the matter further with medical professionals at a future meeting.
• Georgia: Power Slap does not meet the definition of any approved fighting style authorized by law and regulated by the Commission. See O.C.G.A. § 43-4B-1. Further, it appears to meet the definition of unarmed combat under O.C.G.A. § 43-4B-1(20). The promotion of, and participation in, unarmed combat is prohibited in Georgia. See O.C.G.A. § 43-4B-21(c) and (d).
• Idaho: The Idaho Athletic Commission has neither considered nor approved slap fighting.
• Indiana: The Indiana Gaming Commission regulates boxing, mixed martial arts, and combative sports when expressly permitted by the Indiana General Assembly. This occurs when the Indiana General Assembly passes a statute or amends an existing statute explicitly authorizing the IGC to adopt regulations for boxing, mixed martial art, and combative sports. Indiana Code 4-33-22-12 specifically details the boxing, mixed martial arts, and combative sports that the IGC may adopt rules to allow and regulate, of which slap boxing is not one. Therefore, unless there is explicit authorization from the Indiana General Assembly, slap boxing is not permitted in Indiana.
• Kentucky: At this time Kentucky does not sanction “slap fighting,” and the Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Commission is not currently considering a change to our regulation to include these events.
• Maryland: There are no plans at the present time for the approval of slap fighting in Maryland. This would first require action by the State Legislature before the Maryland Athletic Commission could draft and promulgate regulations to govern such an activity.
• Michigan: The Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission (Commission) is unable to safely sanction “unarmed combat” events, besides professional boxing or professional/amateur mixed martial arts events, under the Unarmed Combat Regulatory Act, unless it promulgates specific rules of engagement that do not otherwise conflict with Michigan’s Unarmed Combat Regulatory Act. Currently there are no rules of engagement for slap fighting in the State of Michigan.
• Minnesota: Slap fighting has not been approved by our Department and we have no plans to approve it as a sanctioned sport.
• Mississippi: Slap fighting has not been approved in Mississippi. Slap fighting is being considered and discussed by Commission.
• Nebraska: In Nebraska sports may only be added to my jurisdiction by law makers. To my knowledge there is not an existing bill mentioning slap fighting.
• Nevada: Approved in October 2022.
• New Hampshire: We have not approved of this.
• New York: For your awareness, our current rules would not allow Slap Fighting to occur in New York State.
• North Dakota: Our rules state the combatant must be gloved. Hence, we are limited to mostly boxing an MMA.
• Oklahoma: We have slap fighting on our March 22nd Commission meeting agenda for discussion and possible action. Update – response from Oklahoma regarding March 22 meeting: The Commission ruled that the Athletic Commission would not license or regulate slap fighting. They did direct me to request an Attorney Generals Opinion on whether or not it is legal in Oklahoma pursuant to the statutory definitions of combat sports contained in the Title 3A The Oklahoma State Athletic Commission Act.
• Oregon: The UFC reached out to us to review their rules. We have a process in place to submit to our commission as well as seek advice from our medical advisory board. Then rules and changes go to our DOJ and legislature when fees are increased or assessed. In short, our commission has no opinion or thoughts. We currently have a process to follow and this will take 6 months to a year. This also provides time to seek additional information such as the Assoc. of Ringside Physician break out session regarding slap fighting in June. Our opinion on Slap Fighting is solely based upon the process and the safety of the competitors. Those are yet to be examined and we intend to do our due diligence in seeking medical advice as well as our Commission recommendations.
• Rhode Island: The Department of Business Regulation’s Gaming and Athletics Division regulates professional boxing and mixed martial arts. We are not aware of any legislative proposals regarding slap fighting.
• South Carolina: The South Carolina Athletic Commission has not approved slap fighting and has no current plans to consider the issue. As the regulatory body for combat sports in South Carolina, it would be unlawful for a promoter to stage a slap fighting event in South Carolina without the Athletic Commission’s approval.
• Tennessee: Slap fighting is not currently approved in Tennessee.
• Texas: No one has asked to schedule a competition of this kind. As always, we would carefully consider any request we were receive.
• Washington: We would not be able to consider slap fighting in Washington state without some type of changes to the statutes/laws. This would require someone from the industry to work through the legislative process to propose those changes. This type of activity would fall under our definition of “martial arts.” Based on our laws and rules and our authority, this type of an event would not be permitted in Washington State. During a slap fighting contest, participants utilize blows to defeat an opponent without the use of gloves and opponents are not able to defend themselves. Gloves and the ability for participants to defend themselves, among other safety requirements in our laws and rules, are in place to protect the safety and welfare of all participants. In addition, it’s unknown if these participants are trained in the sport of martial arts. If not, this type of a contest may be considered “Combative Fighting” which is illegal in our state.
• Wyoming: As of this time, we have not formally addressed the issue as we have not had a request for an event. We generally don’t have meetings without an agenda of issues to cover. If someone puts in for an event, we will look at it at that time.

The following athletic commissions did not respond: Arizona, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

To sum things up, only Nevada is the only athletic commission that responded that has approved slap fighting.

Power Slap held its first event on January 18, 2023. TBS delayed the first show by a week after White was caught on video slapping his wife while on a family vacation in Mexico. Over the course of the shows eight-week run, the most viewers an episode had was Week 2 with 4143,000. The programs lowest number of viewers came during the final episode, which drew 220,000 viewers.

TBS declined to renew the program for a second season. White later announced the streaming service Rumble would be the home for Power Slap for the next two years.

*Story has been updated with Oklahoma’s response following it’s March 22 commission meeting.

The PFL has been approved to use its custom in-cage technology for three upcoming Las Vegas fight cards.

At the March 21st meeting of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), had a couple of items of note to deal with from the Professional Fighters League (PFL). One of the largest MMA promotions operating in the US, the PFL hasn’t run fight events in Nevada since 2019, their final season before COVID-19 lockdown measures caused a number of high profile MMA event cancellations.

The PFL returned in 2021, running shows in New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Georgia, and New York. But with the 2023 season just around the corner, the tournament-based organization has three cards lined up this April at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Vegas. Ahead of those shows, the NSAC has granted the promotion a “Waiver of Requirements pursuant to NAC 467.008.”

NAC 467.008 states:

The Commission may, at its sole discretion, waive a requirement set forth in this chapter for any cause deemed sufficient by the Commission.

For good cause deemed sufficient by the Commission, the Chair may alter a period of time prescribed by this chapter in which an action may be taken or must be taken, upon the Chair’s own initiative or upon motion made by a party or other person affected by the prescribed period.

The Chair may designate a Commissioner to perform any of the duties of the Chair set forth in this chapter.

The commission did not discuss the waiver the PFL requested during the March commission meeting. However, after the meeting ended, Bloody Elbow requested more details on the motion.

The NSAC supplied BE with the letter from PFL executive vice president Jim Branson dated March 7, 2023, where the PFL requested waivers for “Glove Sensor and RefCam Technology” and “Sponsor Product Displays.”

Those familiar with the PFL product know the glove sensors deliver punch speed, power ratings, heart rate, and energy exerted. Meanwhile, the “RefCam Technology” is exactly what it sounds like, a camera that gives the referee’s point of view during the action.

As for the “Sponsor Product Displays,” the NSAC approved the PFL’s request to have sponsors REDCON1 and Celsius Energy Drinks to be displayed in fighter warm-up areas and inside the venue during the promotion’s upcoming Las Vegas events. In addition, the NSAC also approved the PFL’s request to allow winning fighters to hold Celsius cans during their in-cage televised post-fight interviews.

The NSAC reply also included 11 pages of information the NSAC entirely redacted and marked “confidential.”

The PFL is opening their “regular season” of events on April 1st in Vegas. Their 2023 debut card features featherweights and light heavyweights. The April 8 card will focus on heavyweights and women’s featherweights, and the April 14 event will highlight welterweights and lightweights.

A deep dive into the statistics from UFC San Antonio: Vera vs. Sandhagen

The UFC ended a run of eight consecutive weeks of fight cards on Saturday with the promotion’s first card in San Antonio, Texas, since July 2019. In the headlining bout of Saturday’s event, Cory Sandhagen put the brakes to Marlon “Chito” Vera’s charge up the featherweight rankings with a split-decision win.

Sandhagen, who entered the bout as the No. 5 fighter in the official UFC featherweight rankings, ended Vera’s run of four straight wins — and four consecutive fight-night bonus-winning performances. Vera entered the contest ranked at No. 3 in the UFC’s 145-pound division.

In the co-main event, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm got back in the win column by sweeping her opponent, Yana Santos, on the scorecards. The victory was Holm’s first since she defeated Irene Aldana in October 2020.

Before the two headlining bouts, Nate Landwehr picked up his third straight win — and third consecutive fight-night bonus with a submission win over Austin Lingo.

Below, we take a deep dive into the stats from the event. ESPN carried UFC San Antonio in its entirety.

• Total Fights: 10
• Unanimous Decisions: 3
• Split Decision: 4
• KOs/TKOs: 1
• Submissions: 2

Fights by Weight Division

• Middleweight: 1
• Welterweight: 1
• Featherweight: 3
• Bantamweight: 1
• Women’s bantamweight: 1
• Flyweight: 2
• Women’s flyweight: 1

• Total Knockdowns Landed: 4
• Total Submission Attempts: 10
• Total Reversals: 4
• Total Significant Strikes Attempted: 2,392
• Total Significant Strikes Landed: 1,023
• Total Significant Head Strikes Attempted: 1,741
• Total Significant Head Strikes Landed: 578
• Total Significant Body Strikes Attempted: 370
• Total Significant Body Strikes Landed: 219
• Total Significant Leg Strikes Attempted: 281
• Total Significant Leg Strikes Landed: 226
• Total Significant Distance Strikes Attempted: 2,082
• Total Significant Distance Strikes Landed: 827
• Total Significant Clinch Strikes Attempted: 91
• Total Significant Clinch Strikes Landed: 61
• Total Significant Ground Strikes Attempted: 219
• Total Significant Ground Strikes Landed: 135

• Total Strikes Attempted: 3,050
• Total Strikes Landed: 1,499
• Total Takedowns Attempted: 83
• Total Takedowns Landed: 26

• Shortest Three-Round Fight: Daniel Pineda submits Tucker Lutz at 2:50 of Rd. 2 via guillotine choke.
• Latest Finish in a Three-Round Fight: Nate Landwehr submits Austin Lingo at 4:11 of Rd. 2 via rear-naked choke.
• Most Takedowns Landed: Andrea Lee with five takedowns on five attempts vs. Maycee Barber.
• Most Submission Attempts: Preston Parsons with three submission attempts vs. Trevin Giles.
• Most Knockdowns Landed: Daniel Lacerda with two knockdowns vs. CJ Vergara.
• Most Significant Strikes Landed in a Three-Round Fight: Lucas Alexander lands 85 significant strikes on 158 attempts vs. Steven Peterson.

Stats via UFC Stats

In a sport where ‘mean stuff’ gets said, Colby Covington crossed the line

In combat sports, threats are an accepted part of the build-up to a fight. As UFC president Dana White is fond of saying, “This is not a nice sport. This is a very rough sport. We say a lot of mean things to each other, and justice gets severed at the end of the day.”

That’s all well and good when two fighters who can settle their difference in a cage are squabbling and quarreling. Although when a UFC competitor threatens a broadcaster, there is no “justice” that can be served, to quote White, and that’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed.

That’s exactly what Colby Covington did though, as he responded to what he perceived as a slight from UFC commentator Jon Anik with a clear threat.

“So, you wanted to lick my frickin’ balls in London, ‘Oh Colby! This, this, this!’” Covington said, “But then you want to go back behind the stage and cheerlead for a racist! So he associates with racism and Belal Muhammad.

“And, you know, Jon Anik, dude, I don’t want your kids to grow up without a dad. Just realize you live in Boca, I live in Miami motherf—ker. You’re not too far from me. So you better shut your f—king mouth. You poke the bear? Now you get the bear comes after you.”

Looking at the definition of a “criminal threat,” it seems like Anik might just have a case.

A criminal threat involves one person threatening someone else with physical harm or death. To be convicted, the prosecution must prove:

the defendant communicated a threat of harm to another

the defendant intended that the communication be taken as a threat, and

the threat was credible and specific so as to place a person in fear of harm.

But in reality, the UFC should make sure this and future cases don’t have to even get close to any legal proceedings.

Covington’s threats warrant a response from the UFC, and the organization needs to send a message that threatening UFC employees is not okay. Once that door is kicked open, nothing prevents a fighter from threatening a commentator for the perception of an incorrect or “bad” call or for backlash from a perceived “gotcha” question posed during an interview.

No UFC employee, not even a former or current fighter, should have to worry about some loose nut rolling up on them at work — or outside of work. The way the UFC can prevent that from happening is dealing with Covington in a way that shows these kinds of threats are unacceptable, not just in society, but in the UFC. Promotion officials too often shrug off this type of behavior as “well, this is a mean sport.” While that might be true, it’s also a professional sport, and the UFC needs to treat it as such.

Bloody Elbow reached out to the UFC for comment on Covington’s threat. The promotion did not respond before publication of this story.

Dana White told the media to ask Novitzky about McGregor and USADA — we tried

During the UFC 286 post-fight press conference, the promotion’s president, Dana White, punted when asked about Conor McGregor’s ongoing battle with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

“Have you ever heard of (UFC senior VP of athlete health and performance) Jeff Novitzky? Ask him these questions. I don’t give a sh-t about any of that stuff anymore. That’s his problem. I don’t get involved in the drug testing situation whatsoever. I know nothing about it, and I don’t want to know nothing about it. I leave it to the expert. He’s the expert in this thing, and you guys call him and interview him anytime about it.”

USADA has not tested McGregor since the third quarter of 2021. Further, as of early February, the former two-division UFC champion, who reportedly removed himself from the USADA testing pool during his recovery for the broken leg he suffered against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, had yet to re-enter that pool.

With McGregor serving as a coach for the upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” the expectation is he will face Michael Chandler, the opposing TUF coach at the conclusion of the reality program’s run.

McGregor thinks he can produce “two clean tests and off I go.” On the other hand, USADA made it clear that unless the Irish fighter receives a pass from the UFC because of “exceptional circumstances,” he needs to be in the testing pool for six months before the UFC can book him for a fight.

USADA oversees the UFC’s drug testing program.

Bloody Elbow reached out to the UFC — per White’s instructions — to get a comment from Novitzky. We asked three questions of the promotion:

Does the UFC have any comment on the back-and-forth between Mr. McGregor and USADA on social media?

Does the UFC plan to offer Mr. McGregor a USADA testing exemption for “exceptional circumstances,” as USADA said was the right of the promotion?

Can the UFC confirm that Mr. McGregor must enter the USADA testing pool for six months before he can compete again for the UFC?

As of this writing the UFC nor Novitzky have responded.

The most recent update to the USADA athlete testing results page from March 16, 2023, shows that McGregor has yet to be tested this year.