Issue 078

August 2011

2

There have been just two spinning back-fist KOs in UFC history. Shonie Carter struck first against Matt Serra at UFC 31, and at UFC 129 John Makdessi scored the second over Kyle Watson.

61-5

Mark Hominick outstruck Jose Also in the fifth round, outlanding Aldo 61-5 in total strikes and 49-4 in power strikes. Aldo had the edge in overall power strikes with 102-82 landed for the fight and had six takedowns. 

322

In his 322-second UFC career featherweight Pablo Garza has made a whopping $159,000 in two ‘…of the Night’ bonuses. First, he scored $30,000 for ‘Knockout of the Night’ at the TUF 12 Finale in December, and at UFC 129 in April he netted the $129k ‘Submission of the Night’ after a crazy flying triangle victory.

57

It took Randy Couture 57 seconds to make the long walk to the Octagon in the Rogers Centre for what looks to be the final time. Coincidentally it was at UFC 57 when Randy first said he would retire after suffering a KO to Chuck Liddell.

6

That first time Randy decided to retire was slightly over six years ago. It came a week after the first Ultimate Fighter Finale which was the leading edge of the UFC’s explosion. It’s fitting that Randy walks away this time after another monumental event in UFC 129.

6-4

UFC 129’s Canadian fighters fared well. The boys from the north went 6-4 on the night – much better than the UFC 58: USA vs Canada card in 2006 when the Americans won five of eight…

46,155

…But, UFC 129 had just a few more attendees than UFC 58. A massive 46,155 to be exact.

1

Due to the UFC’s first crane kick knockout by Lyoto Machida on Randy Couture at the same event, John Makdessi didn’t receive the publicized $129,000 knockout bonus. Machida thanked Steven Seagal for his kick coaching, and just before the fight Seagal said to cutman ‘Stitch’ Duran: “[Brother] you’ll see a new and improved Machida with better footwork and quicker hands.” He was like a proud father after the fight, saying: “Didn’t I tell you!”

$12.075m

The record-breaking stadium show in Canada also clocked up the highest gate revenue in UFC history. The huge attendance helped generate $12.075 million, once again completely shattering the previous record of $5.4m clocked up at UFC 66 in Las Vegas.

1,400

The amazing number of workers on hand to serve the monster crowd of over 55,000 in Toronto’s Rogers Centre during UFC 129 in April, the company’s historic first stadium event. 

Numbers provided by Zac Robinson, co-author of Sports by the Numbers: MMA. Zac has also co-written the recently released biography From the Fields to the Garden: The Life of Stitch Duran. It's available online at Amazon and blackmesabooks.com. For more info go to: www.sportsbythenumbersmma.com