Donald Cerrone vs. Jorge Masvidal Stats & Facts

Returning to the place where his MMA career started, Donald Cerrone faces Jorge Masvidal in Denver, Colorado. ‘Gamebred’ is a dangerous fight for anyone in the 170-pound division, but ‘Cowboy’ is on a red-hot streak. Moving up to 170 pounds in February 2016, Cerrone rapidly built up a four-fight/finish spree. Trademark knockouts against Patrick Cote,

The post Donald Cerrone vs. Jorge Masvidal Stats & Facts appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Returning to the place where his MMA career started, Donald Cerrone faces Jorge Masvidal in Denver, Colorado. ‘Gamebred’ is a dangerous fight for anyone in the 170-pound division, but ‘Cowboy’ is on a red-hot streak. Moving up to 170 pounds in February 2016, Cerrone rapidly built up a four-fight/finish spree. Trademark knockouts against Patrick Cote, Rick Story and Matt Brown highlighted a great year for ‘Cowboy.’

Recent form has been solid for Masvidal, who rides two straight wins in to UFC on FOX 23. Taking a decision against Ross Pearson and a bizarre TKO over Jake Ellenberger, Masvidal will face the toughest test of his recent career in ‘Cowboy.’ Let’s take a look at some stats and facts involving the UFC Denver co-main event duo.

Stats we’ll be looking at:

SLpMSignificant Strikes Landed per Minute Str. Acc. Significant Striking Accuracy

SApMSignificant Strikes Absorbed per Minute Str. Def. – Significant Strike Defence (the % of opponents strikes that did not land)

TD Avg. – Average Takedowns Landed per 15 minutes TD Acc. – Takedown Accuracy

TD Def. – Takedown Defense (the % of opponents TD attempts that did not land) Sub. Avg. – Average Submissions Attempted per 15 minutes

Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Donald Cerrone

SLpM: 4.16 TD Avg.: 1.38  HEIGHT: 6′ 1″ REACH: 73″

TD Acc.: 42% TD Def.: 70% RECORD: 32-7-(1) (16 KO 8 SUB)

Sub. Avg.: 1.7 Str. Acc.: 47% RANKS: BJJ/Gaidojutsu black belt

SApM: 3.90 Str. Def: 54% TEAM: Jackson Wink MMA Academy

Although he’s only been fighting at welterweight for a year, Donald Cerrone already debuts as a top 10 stats leader. Just one place behind Tyron Woodley, Cerrone is currently ranked 10 for knockdowns scored in the division. Four fights in to his 170-pound career, ‘Cowboy’ has landed six knockdowns. Cerrone has a great work rate as we see from his 4.16 SLpM, but he absorbs almost as many in doing so. Against a puncher like Masvidal, that might be ill-advised.

Cerrone’s takedown defense is excellent, and although he only attempts 1.7 subs per three rounds, he has razor-sharp Jiu Jitsu. At lightweight, Cerrone is ranked third for significant strikes landed and knockdowns landed in divisional history. Among active fighters, he is number two in both departments, and ranks in the top 10 for total strikes landed at 155 pounds.

Mandatory Credit: Tracy Lee for USA TODAY Sports

Jorge Masvidal

SLpM: 4.20 Str. Acc.: 46% HEIGHT: 5′ 11″ REACH: 74″

SApM: 2.89 Str. Def: 69% RECORD: 31-11 (12 KO 2 SUB)

TD Avg.: 1.98 TD Acc.: 61% RANKS: Black belt in freestyle fighting system

TD Def.: 79% Sub. Avg.: 0.5 TEAM: American Top Team

Similar to his opponent in Denver, Jorge Masvidal has fought both at lightweight and welterweight. In terms of striking, he is also almost identical to ‘Cowboy’ on a statistical level. Masvidal absorbs less significant strikes per minute with better defense, and actually is ever so slightly more active in strikes landed per minute. Among active UFC welterweights, the former street fighter is top 10 with strikes landed per minute and also a 1.48 strike differential.

There’s not much to say of either man’s grappling, apart from they are seldom taken down. Masvidal attempts less than one submission per 15 minutes fought, so expect a technical striking battle in this 170-pound co-main event.

UFC on FOX 23 Fight Card

Event: UFC on FOX 23: “Shevchenko vs. Pena”
Date: Sat., Jan. 28, 2017, on FOX
Location: Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado

UFC on FOX 23 Main Event:

135 lbs.: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Julianna Pena

FOX Main Card  UFC Fight Pass):

170 lbs.: Donald Cerrone vs. Jorge Masvidal

265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski vs. Francis Ngannou

135 lbs.: Alex Caceres vs. Jason Knight

FOX Sports 1

135 lbs.: Raphael Assuncao vs. Aljamain Sterling

185 lbs.: Sam Alvey vs. Nate Marquardt

185 lbs.: Eric Spicely vs. Alessio Di Chirico

155 lbs.: J.C. Cottrell vs. Jason Gonzalez

125 lbs.: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Eric Shelton

135 lbs.: Alex Caceres vs. Jason Knight

205 lbs.: Henrique da Silva vs. Jordan Johnson

155 lbs.: Li Jingliang vs. Bobby Nash

UFC Fight Pass Prelims

205 lbs.: Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. John Philipps

125 lbs.: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Eric Shelton

Stats harvested from FightMetric.com

The post Donald Cerrone vs. Jorge Masvidal Stats & Facts appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The UFC Book Of Records

Over the course of its 23 years in existence, the UFC has become the ultimate proving ground in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, building a rich history along the way. With that in mind, we decided it would be a good idea to delve deep into the record books in search of some of

The post The UFC Book Of Records appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Over the course of its 23 years in existence, the UFC has become the ultimate proving ground in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, building a rich history along the way.

With that in mind, we decided it would be a good idea to delve deep into the record books in search of some of the greatest accomplishments in the Octagon over the years, including discovering which fighter enjoyed the longest title reign, who compiled the longest winning streak, and who’s knocked out more opponents than anybody else in the history of the sport.

We’ll also look at other record breakers too, so if you’ve ever wondered who the tallest fighter to ever set foot in the Octagon was, who was the oldest (hint: it’s not Randy Couture), or just want to know who banked the biggest pay cheque, then we’ve got you covered!

The post The UFC Book Of Records appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Duane Ludwig Now Holds the Official Fastest Knockout in UFC History — Sort Of

Duane Ludwig Jonathan Goulet fastest ufc knockout gof
(The fact that Duane didn’t ass-punch Goulet at full strength proves what a classy guy he is.)

I’m sure you know the story by now: In January 2006, Duane “Bang” Ludwig met Jonathan Goulet at UFC Fight Night 3 and first-punch KO’d him in just four seconds. But due to a timekeeper’s error, the stoppage time was officially recorded as 11 seconds. It didn’t really bother Ludwig until he saw all the media attention that Todd Duffee got for knocking out Tim Hague in a “record breaking” seven seconds. This was clearly some bullshit.

But after several months spent petitioning the Internet, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and the UFC, Ludwig has been vindicated, in the form of a tweet sent out by UFC president Dana White on Christmas Eve:

@DUANEBANGCOM @ufc and for x mas you have the fastest KO in UFC history and it will be changed ASAP

And now, here’s the NSAC’s Keith Kizer to play the Grinch/Scrooge role in this holiday miracle…

Duane Ludwig Jonathan Goulet fastest ufc knockout gof
(The fact that Duane didn’t ass-punch Goulet at full strength proves what a classy guy he is.)

I’m sure you know the story by now: In January 2006, Duane “Bang” Ludwig met Jonathan Goulet at UFC Fight Night 3 and first-punch KO’d him in just four seconds. But due to a timekeeper’s error, the stoppage time was officially recorded as 11 seconds. It didn’t really bother Ludwig until he saw all the media attention that Todd Duffee got for knocking out Tim Hague in a “record breaking” seven seconds. This was clearly some bullshit.

But after several months spent petitioning the Internet, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and the UFC, Ludwig has been vindicated, in the form of a tweet sent out by UFC president Dana White on Christmas Eve:

@DUANEBANGCOM @ufc and for x mas you have the fastest KO in UFC history and it will be changed ASAP

And now, here’s the NSAC’s Keith Kizer to play the Grinch/Scrooge role in this holiday miracle…

As Kizer told MMAJunkie:

The ruling is that it stays at 11. There’s no legal avenue to overturn it…I did tell [Ludwig’s] people. I timed it myself with a stopwatch. It was eight seconds. Officially, it’s got to stay at 11 seconds, but unofficially, it could be at eight.”

Although it appears just four seconds elapsed from when the time clock started and referee Mario Yamasaki intervened, Kizer said the official start of the fight was earlier.

If you use a stopwatch, from the time the fight starts to the time that Mario grabs Duane, it’s about 7.9 seconds. Why the official timekeeper had it at 11, I don’t know. But it wasn’t 11, and it wasn’t four, either.”

Dana White responded with his trademark disgust: “Sounds like them. We reviewed it, and it’s correct. ‘Bang’ has the fastest knockout. It’s funny. The state athletic commissions are in place to look out for the fighters, but it seems like I’m always the one making sure they don’t get [expletive].”

For his part, Ludwig is just happy to be recognized in the UFC’s official history books, even if the NSAC isn’t on the same page yet. Via BleacherReport:

The record is very cool to have, because it separates me from every other human being past, present and very possibly future,” said Ludwig, who will someday explain the importance of his record to his children with pride. “That’s some pretty cool stuff. Each athlete wants to stand out and this is a very big way to do so.”

Ludwig has won decisions in his last two UFC fights against Amir Sadollah and Nick Osipczak, and returns against Josh Neer at UFC on FX 1 next month. Jonathan Goulet retired from the sport last November.