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UFC 171 Tweet-Sized Stats: 26 Surprising Facts for Hendricks vs. Lawler

(Fan-made poster by Frank G.)

Note: Reed’s book ‘Fightnomics’ is available now on Amazon (in Kindle and paperback versions), featuring 336 pages of statistical analysis on UFC fighters and the “hidden science” behind their fights. If you’ve been a fan of his Databomb columns on CagePotato, pick up a copy today.

With UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler coming up this Saturday, I decided to put together another batch of interesting facts and stats about the event, all of which fit inside Twitter’s 140-character limit. Feel free to tweet ’em out yourself during the event, and let us know which ones surprised you the most. (And of course, follow @cagepotatomma and @fightnomics if you’re not doing so already.) Let’s begin…

The Good

7 of the Top 15 ranked @ufc welterweights are competing at #UFC171. That includes numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, 11, 12, & 14. Post GSP-era starts now.

Welterweight sluggers at #UFC171: punch for punch @TWooodley has the highest WW Knockdown Rate-13%. Lawler-10%, Lombard/Hendricks-6%. Ave=4%

Myles Jury has the best head striking defense at #UFC171. He makes opponents miss 93% of the time. Next best is Tyron Woodley at 80%.

Alex Garcia’s UFC debut lasted just 43 seconds. He landed 9 total strikes, dropped his opponent and won by KO. He opens FS2 #UFC171 prelims

Best Takedown Defense at #UFC171 goes to Tyron Woodley-94%, Dennis Bermudez-89%, Hector Lombard-79%

Highest paced striker at #UFC171 is Jake Shields. He averages 17 strikes per minute while standing, and outworks opponents by 75%
[Ed. note: WTF???]

(Fan-made poster by Frank G.)

By Reed Kuhn

With UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler coming up this Saturday, I decided to put together another batch of interesting facts and stats about the event, all of which fit inside Twitter’s 140-character limit. Feel free to tweet ‘em out yourself during the event, and let us know which ones surprised you the most. (And of course, follow @cagepotatomma and @fightnomics if you’re not doing so already.) Let’s begin…

The Good

7 of the Top 15 ranked @ufc welterweights are competing at #UFC171. That includes numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, 11, 12, & 14. Post GSP-era starts now.

Welterweight sluggers at #UFC171: punch for punch @TWooodley has the highest WW Knockdown Rate-13%. Lawler-10%, Lombard/Hendricks-6%. Ave=4%

Myles Jury has the best head striking defense at #UFC171. He makes opponents miss 93% of the time. Next best is Tyron Woodley at 80%.

Alex Garcia’s UFC debut lasted just 43 seconds. He landed 9 total strikes, dropped his opponent and won by KO. He opens FS2 #UFC171 prelims

Best Takedown Defense at #UFC171 goes to Tyron Woodley-94%, Dennis Bermudez-89%, Hector Lombard-79%

Highest paced striker at #UFC171 is Jake Shields. He averages 17 strikes per minute while standing, and outworks opponents by 75%
[Ed. note: WTF???]

Jake Shields has already beaten 3 other ranked welterweights competing at #UFC171, including Carlos Condit, Robbie Lawler & Tyron Woodley

Arms Race: Ovince St. Preux has the longest reach at #UFC171 at 79”. His opponent Nikita Krylov has the 2^nd longest reach at 77.5”

Two fights into his UFC career and Nikita Krylov has yet to be hit with a head jab. He also hasn’t landed one yet himself #UFC171

.@jakeshieldsajj has spent more minutes in control on the mat than any other fighter at #UFC171 & 17% of that time was in full mount.

Carlos Condit & Jake Shields are most likely to advance position while on the mat at #UFC171. Each average several advances per takedown landed

The Bad

Hector Lombard (36) and Jakes Shields (35) are the two oldest competitors at #UFC171. When they face each other it’s 71 years combined age in the Octagon

With a reported reach of 62″, Jessica Andrade has the shortest wingspan of any fighter in UFC history #UFC171

Worst Takedown Defense to date at #UFC171 goes to Nikita Krylov. Opponents were 4 for 4 in takedown attempts against him

The most experienced UFC veteran at #UFC171 is Diego Sanchez. In his UFC career he’s been hit in the head 920 times total (5^th all-time)

Jake Shields is the least accurate striker at #UFC171, he only lands 12% of his power head strikes

No one at #UFC171 has attempted more takedowns in the UFC than Diego Sanchez. Of his 133 attempts, however, he has only landed 19%.

The Weird

There will be (at least) 11 Southpaws competing at #UFC171 which is more than any card in @ufc history. It’s the most UNorthodox card ever!

In the main event at #UFC171 both fighters will come out Southpaw. And with the nicknames given to them when they were two: Johny & Robbie.

Most likely to attempt a takedown at #UFC171 are Johny Hendricks & Jake Shields. Each average 1 attempt per minute they are on their feet.

Most likely to mix up his striking attack at #UFC171 is Carlos Condit. He throws body and leg kicks way more than average

Young Guns at #UFC171: Nikita Krylov, Kelvin Gastelum & Jessica Andrade are all just 22 years old. Justin Scoggins turns 22 in May

Arms Race: Jimmy Hettes will have the biggest Reach Advantage at #UFC171. His reach is 71” and he’s facing Dennis Bermudez-66”

Although Robbie Lawler rarely attempts takedowns, his success rate is 70%, the highest at #UFC171. Myles Jury is 2nd at 64%

Rick Story, the lowest of the 6 ranked Welterweights at #UFC171 has a UFC win over Johny Hendricks, the highest ranked Welterweight

No one at #UFC171 faced more takedowns than Carlos Condit (81). He defended 41% leaving opponents with a high collective takedown success %.

Carlos Condit to Earn Welterweight Title Shot if He Beats Tyron Woodley at UFC 171

(Next time I’m at the gym, I’m going to do a thousand steps on the stair climber while wearing UFC gloves, big red headphones, and no shirt, and if anybody says anything to me about it, well…they’re just lucky I’m on probation right now. / Photo via @CarlosCondit)

According to a UFC on FOX tweet sent out yesterday, welterweight contender Carlos Condit will receive a title shot if he’s victorious against Tyron Woodley at UFC 171 on March 15th. It would be Condit’s second shot at the UFC’s unified 170-pound title, following his unsuccessful challenge against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 154 in November 2012.

Since it’s our nature to be critical, let’s start by listing the reasons this plan doesn’t make sense. Condit is currently on a one-fight win streak, and is about to fight a guy ranked just outside of the top ten. If Johny Hendricks defeats Robbie Lawler in the UFC 171 main event and Condit beats Woodley, we’d be getting another Hendricks vs. Condit fight relatively soon after the first one. Can’t we get some fresh contenders in the mix, now that GSP isn’t around? How many opponents do Matt Brown and Dong Hyun Kim have to tear through before they get their shots, damn it? (And obviously, Condit vs. Woodley is one of those matches where only one of the fighters is promised a title shot if he wins, right? Ugh, I hate that.)

Then again, who else besides Condit is ready for a welterweight title fight at this point? You could argue that Brown and Kim haven’t beaten any top contenders yet, and shouldn’t even be in the conversation until they do. There’s also Rory MacDonald floating around near the top of the 170-pound ladder. We’ll let Tyron Woodley himself explain why “Ares” shouldn’t get the next title shot either, because it’s kind of hilarious:

“I think Rory needs to get out of here, to be honest,” Woodley flatly said on a Thursday media conference call. “Carlos finished Rory. He has a very skewed memory. He got finished by Carlos, and he just lost to Robbie. In the event that Carlos wins, or the event that Robbie wins, where does Rory stand then? He lost to both of those two guys…

“He did look good against Demian Maia, who’s a good fighter,” Woodley acknowledged. “He stepped forward, he didn’t get a lot of scrutiny about being overly conservative, and having his style of fighting that really didn’t open up as (much as) when he first came in.

“But I hold everybody [fighting in UFC 171’s main and co-main events] in high regard. For me to defeat Carlos Condit, that’s more important than him defeating Demian Maia any day of the week…

“[MacDonald] should’ve taken that chance when he had it. You were ranked the third welterweight in the world, being the gatekeeper, beating top guys. And then when it comes down to fighting GSP, you didn’t want to do it. I’m pretty sure Carlos has had some training sessions with GSP at Greg Jackson’s camp. When came down to fight him, he stepped up to the plate and he was trying to take his head off. I think that’s where the ball kind of dropped in his court, and I think it’s kind of comical that he thinks all of a sudden he’s just going to jump in front. Same as (Nick) Diaz, he’s thinks he’s just going to jump in front. I think they’re sharing the same bag of weed.”

Or as Robert DeNiro might say, Rory had a chance to step up and he blewwww iiiiiiiit! Fair enough. I also think it’s interesting that Woodley is discussing the welterweight pecking order “in the event that Carlos wins.” You rarely hear UFC fighters mention the possibility of losing upcoming fights. It’s as strange as it is honest.

So does Carlos Condit deserve the next welterweight title shot with a win over Woodley? If not, then who? Your thoughts, please.

UFC Rankings Expand to Include Top 15 Contenders, Basically Because of Tyron Woodley

(Photo via Getty)

Earlier this week, the UFC’s award-winning media rankings (officially known as the “UFC Rankings presented by RAM“) expanded from a list of the top 10 contenders in each division to a list of the top 15 contenders in each division. So why is this important? It’s not. Nothing about the UFC rankings is important in any way whatsoever. But the timing is awfully convenient.

As you may recall, welterweight contender Tyron Woodley is facing Carlos Condit in a #1 contender fight at UFC 171 in March. Originally, UFC president Dana White dismissed this matchup because Woodley wasn’t ranked. But shortly thereafter, Woodley got the fight anyway, mostly because he was the best 170-pounder available at that exact moment.

It would seem silly to put on a #1 contender match between the current #2 welterweight contender and a guy with (NR) next to his name. And so, the UFC arbitrarily expanded their rankings to include the top 15 contenders in each division — and that, my friends, is why Tyron Woodley is now officially ranked at #11.

In related news, Scott Jorgensen is currently ranked as the #12 flyweight contender in the UFC, despite a lifetime record of 0-1 at 125 pounds, and Chael Sonnen is still ranked higher at light-heavyweight than he is at middleweight. Don’t even get us started.

(Photo via Getty)

UFC Rankings Expand to Include Top 15 Contenders, Basically Because of Tyron Woodley

(Photo via Getty)

Despite Being ‘Unranked,’ Tyron Woodley Gets #1 Contender Fight Against Carlos Condit at UFC 171

(Woodley might not be in the top ten, but he was definitely the people’s champion that night. / Photo via Getty)

Ever since Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler was booked as the first welterweight title fight in the post-Georges era, the UFC has been trying to find a high-profile dance partner for Carlos Condit on the UFC 171 card (March 15th, Dallas). As UFC president Dana White has recently explained, it wouldn’t be Matt Brown because Brown’s health is uncertain, it wouldn’t be Nick Diaz because Diaz turned the match down, and it wouldn’t be Tyron Woodley because T-Wood hasn’t cracked the top ten according to the UFC’s totally irrelevant rankings.

But earlier today, the UFC found an opponent for Condit, and it’s…Tyron Woodley? Huh. We’re not saying that the guy doesn’t deserve the opportunity, considering that he just beat the brakes off of Josh Koscheck and everybody else in the division is either booked or injured. Maybe now we can stop pretending that the UFC’s official rankings mean jack-shit, since they always seem to fly out the window as soon as it’s time to find a warm body. (Though I’ll bet you a nickel Woodley magically appears in the top ten the next time the rankings are updated. Seriously. Just watch.)

According to Dana White, Woodley texted him “15 times a day” when Matt Brown pulled out of his scheduled UFC on FOX 9 match against Condit, but of course, DW digs fighters who step up. “There are guys like (Woodley) that are out there,” White said. “Those are the guys I want to deal with. Those are the guys I want to hear from. I love Tyron Woodley. I love it.”

As MMAJunkie reports, the winner of Condit vs. Woodley is likely to get the winner of Hendricks vs. Lawler, which means that theoretically, MMA dinosaur Robbie Lawler could be defending his UFC welterweight title against currently-“unranked” Tyron Woodley sometime next summer. What a country.

(Woodley might not be in the top ten, but he was definitely the people’s champion that night. / Photo via Getty)

As MMAJunkie reports, the winner of Condit vs. Woodley is likely to get the winner of Hendricks vs. Lawler, which means that theoretically, MMA dinosaur Robbie Lawler could be defending his UFC welterweight title against currently-”unranked” Tyron Woodley sometime next summer. What a country.

Nick Diaz Turns Down UFC Rematch With Carlos Condit, Will Continue to Hang Out at Welfare Offices and Throw Knives in His House

(Photo via Getty)

During the GSP-retirishment™ conference call on Friday, UFC president Dana White mentioned that he was working on getting welterweight contender Carlos Condit a big fight for the UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler supporting card. As it turns out, White intended to book a rematch between Condit and currently-inactive star Nick Diaz — but Diaz turned it down.

According to an MMAJunkie report, White offered Diaz the fight in person at UFC on FOX 9, Saturday night in Sacramento. Diaz declined, saying he might return to competition in the spring, but only for a title fight.

“He doesn’t want the fight,” White told reporters following UFC on FOX 9. “I thought he wanted the rematch…but he’s not interested. He said maybe he’d be interested in coming back in May…He said, ‘I’ll fight the winner of Hendricks and Lawler.’ I said, ‘You’re ranked No. 10. It kind of doesn’t work that way.’”

“I’ve got to go back to the drawing board,” White continued. “Condit accepted the fight immediately, but I didn’t get it done (with Diaz)…Obviously the Diaz brothers are very unique individuals. You don’t pressure a guy who’s not interested in fighting. In this business, you’ve got to have the fire or you shouldn’t do it.”

(Photo via Getty)

Of course, Diaz’s strategy of holding out unless he’s offered a title shot is nothing new for him. But the fact that he’s still playing this game, two years after his last victory in the Octagon, represents a new level of insanity — a level of insanity that can only be expressed by a photo of Jason Miller hanging out with Matt Horwich.

Diaz previously faced Condit in an interim title fight at UFC 143, losing by unanimous decision. Since then, Diaz has spent his time trying to be a fight promoter himself, throwing knives in his kitchen, spending time with family, and filming his upcoming documentary Snow Angels in the Welfare Office, a harrowing look at Stockton’s permanent underclass or whatever.

As for Condit, he still doesn’t have his next opponent booked. All we know is that Condit won’t be fighting Tyron Woodley, because Woodley isn’t currently ranked in the UFC’s top 10, as if that means a goddamned thing.