Fight Facts: UFC 277 ‘Pena vs. Nunes 2’

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.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 6,752
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 615

The Ultimate Fighting Championship coughed up a pair of championship rematches for its return to Dallas, with the consensus greatest female fighter of all time reclaiming her throne at night’s end. Few betting upsets occurred through the evening, but multiple contenders emerged with style points. UFC 277 featured the stage being set for a tetralogy match, a Russian ruining the party in Texas and the first fighter born in Egypt to compete in the Octagon.

Instant Vindication: After five brutal rounds, Amanda Nunes avenged her 2021 loss to Julianna Pena. Nunes became the first fighter in UFC history to serve twice as a concurrent two-division champion.

Some Called Her Done: The victory for Nunes was her 10th in a UFC championship bout, placing her with the fifth-most all-time and extending her lead among women to set foot in the Octagon. Across all fighters, she trails Anderson Silva (11), Demetrious Johnson (12), Georges St. Pierre (13) and Jon Jones (14).

Cleaned Out the Champions: Following her dismantling of Pena, Nunes has beaten every other woman to hold the UFC women’s bantamweight or featherweight belt. This totals six ex-champs, not counting her two triumphs over current flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

Putting the G in GOAT: Nunes has now amassed 15 wins since joining the roster in 2013, including 12 at bantamweight. Both totals are the most any woman in UFC history in terms of overall victories, and wins in a single division respectively.

Nunes’ Revenge: In the second round of their 25-minute encounter, Nunes dropped Pena three times, the most in a single round by any female fighter in organizational history.

Two Will Soon Become One: Brandon Moreno snagged the interim flyweight strap when he battered Kai Kara France. He becomes the second two-time champion of the UFC’s flyweight division after his nemesis, Deiveson Figueiredo.

Kill the Body and the Head Will Die: With a picture-perfect kick to the liver, Moreno felled Kara France. “The Assassin Baby” picked up the first body kick stoppage in UFC flyweight history, and the sixth win by strikes to the body throughout all UFC title fights.

Buy Even More Legos: Claiming “Fight of the Night” honors for his battle with Kara France, Moreno earned his sixth as a UFC fighter. The only flyweight with more is Johnson, who picked up nine across his tenure.

Do They Run It Back? While some questioned the stoppage, Sergei Pavlovich officially knocked Derrick Lewis out in 55 seconds. The Russian celebrates a knockout rate of 81%, and he has never before needed to use a submission to end a fight.

Chasing Bad Records: The knockout loss for Lewis was his seventh as a UFC heavyweight. Alistair Overeem, Frank Mir, Gabriel Gonzaga and Stefan Struve are tied for the most in the division’s history, with eight apiece.

Mighty Pantoja: Alexandre Pantoja tapped Alex Perez with the first neck crank in UFC flyweight history. His six finishes and four submissions are both one shy of Johnson’s record of seven and five, respectively.

Dagestani Dynamite: Magomed Ankalaev stopped Anthony Smith with punches in the second round, earning his fifth win due to strikes as a UFC fighter. He trails Chuck Liddell’s light heavyweight record of nine, and besides Liddell, just five other 205ers have landed more knockouts than Ankalaev.

Emerging from the ‘Action Fighter’ Pack: Across three rounds, Alex Morono scored one of the few upsets of the night by winning a decision over Matthew Semelsberger. Morono has notched eight wins on the scorecards as a UFC welterweight, and only five 170ers have earned more.

Effective Chin: With a clean body shot, Drew Dober put Rafael Alves down for the count in Round 3. Dober improved his knockout tally to seven as a lightweight, tying Melvin Guillard and Edson Barboza for the second-most in divisional history. Only Dustin Poirier (eight) has scored more.

Hammered Time: In his short-notice debut, Hamdy Abdelwahab became the first Egyptian-born fighter to compete inside the Octagon. “The Hammer” claimed a split decision over Don'Tale Mayes, making it the first time the Olympic wrestler had ever fought beyond 13:25 of an MMA fight.

Only 22 Years Old, Too: Meeting a late replacement opponent in Adam Fugitt, Michael Morales still remained undefeated at 14-0 as he knocked Fugitt out in the third round. The Ecuadorian sports a high finish rate of 86%.

It Made the Difference: Both Joselyne Edwards and Orion Cosce missed weight by 1.5 pounds for their bouts, and they beat Ji Yeon Kim and Mike Mathetha by decision, respectively. It marked the first time in 2022 that multiple fighters had come in heavy and all prevailed.

Nick Knock: Nicolae Negumereanu staved off newcomer Ihor Potieria and snapped his foe’s long win streak by recording a second-round knockout. “Nick” saw his career finish rate to rise to 85%, although his two decision wins have come in his last four appearances.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC 277, Abdelwahab had never gone the distance (five fights), Mayes had never lost on the scorecards (13 fights) and Mathetha had never dropped consecutive bouts (four fights).

Where Do We Go Now? Dating back over a decade, UFC fighters around the world have walked out to “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses. Morono is the first among them on record to choose that specific song and come out with a win.

He Believes in Life After Love: Ahead of his pairing with Dober, Alves made history by becoming the first fighter across all recorded UFC walkouts to select a Cher song. He elected to use the DJ Jefinho remix of “Believe,” dancing to the cage and sharing laughs with officials ahead of his loss to Dober.