Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 243 ‘Moicano vs. St. Denis’

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: 7,858
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 706

The Ultimate Fighting Championship basked in the glow of the Paris Olympics by putting on a full-throated effort in the Accor Arena. Local fighters largely flourished as fans flooded them with support, although there was a bit of a letdown in the main attraction. UFC Fight Night 243 featured yet another comically high betting line, a “Hulk” that worked smarter not harder and increasingly poor numbers for the Eminem Curse.

Pick a Name: By bludgeoning Benoit St. Denis to the point of forced medical intervention, Renato Carneiro earned the first doctor stoppage technical knockout in a UFC headliner in over two years. At UFC Fight Night 210, Cory Sandhagen disfigured Yadong Song in the main attraction to merit a physician’s interference.

Any Name: “Moicano” earned his first 10 career stoppages all by submission, with his last one coming in 2022. Claiming his first knockout in April, he scored his second in his first UFC headliner.

Sniper No Sniping: Nassourdine Imavov snapped Brendan Allen’s seven-fight win streak by earning a decision over him. The man now known as “The Sniper” has fought out of the first round in every one of his 10 UFC outings.

Slowing Down the Beast: Earning the nod on two scorecards out of three, William Gomis defused Joanderson Brito via split decision. Half of Gomis’ career decision wins have come since joining the UFC roster in 2022. Brito has now heard the final bell in four of his 22 pro outings.

Time for Battle: Bryan Battle put the screws to Kevin Jousset, putting the Frenchman out of New Zealand away in the second round. “The Butcher” has earned 82% of his pro wins by stoppage, including each of his last four.

R: Lifting his finish rate to an even 75%, Morgan Charriere pasted Gabriel Miranda with one punch. Knockouts account for all four recent victories of “The Last Pirate.”

Streets of Ziam: By flatlining Matt Frevola with a knee, Fares Ziam earned his first triumph via knockout since March 2018 and his first finish as a UFC fighter. At that time, only Carneiro, Frevola and Ion Cutelaba had made their UFC debuts.

The Credible Hulk: Needing all three rounds to get past debuting Ivan Erslan, Cutelaba settled for the third decision win of his career. His last came over three years ago against Devin Clark.

D1 Double Hulk: Three of the 12 takedowns attempted by Cutelaba proved successful against Erslan. This lifts the total for “The Hulk” to 37. Only four fighters in UFC light heavyweight history have landed more: Jon Jones (42), Ryan Bader (46), Rashad Evans (50) and Corey Anderson (53).

No Relation to Sadibou: Keeping his spotless record intact at 11-0, Oumar Sy outworked Da Woon Jung across their 15-minute engagement. With this his second victory in 2024, Sy has never earned more than two wins in a calendar year—with 10 UFC cards left to break that streak.

Bettors Out of Control: Clocking in as an astronomical -1100 betting favorite against Roosevelt Roberts, Ludovit Klein ended up snagging a decision win. He is the 10th UFC fighter in 2024 to enter favored above -1000, far and away more than any other year in company history.

Leisurely Pace: The stoppage rate for France’s Taylor Lapilus dropped below when he picked up a decision over Vince Morales. “Double Impact” has reached the third round in nine of his last 10 outings.

Get a New Gimmick: Putting a three-win decision streak behind her, Ailin Perez earned her first UFC stoppage win by tapping Darya Zheleznyakova with an arm-triangle choke. It marked her second win via submission, with the first coming in her sophomore career outing against Laura Ribeiro in 2018.

Barez, Pronounced Like Aerith: For the 10th time in his career, “El Magnifico” Victor Altamirano left his fight in the hands of the judges. The 17-bout pro has done so in four straight, and seven of his last eight, after losing on the scorecards to Daniel Barez.

Got Her Number: Nora Cornolle came into UFC Paris on an eight-fight win streak, with her lone loss her pro debut in 2021. Like that unsuccessful debut performance, Cornolle fell short again to Jacqueline Cavalcanti by decision.

Oki Doki: By putting Bolaji Oki to sleep with a guillotine choke, Chris Duncan earned his second pro submission win and an extra check for $50,000. He is the third curtain-jerker this year to take home a post-fight bonus, and the first in slot no. 14 on a UFC bout lineup.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 243, St. Denis (16 fights) and Roberts (17 fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts, Jousset had never competed in his home country of France (12 fights) and Zheleznyakova (10 fights) and Oki (10 fights) had never been submitted.

Highway to Heck: As he has done for nine of his 10 UFC appearances, Klein walked out rocking to “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC, and he won his fight. Fighters walking out to this song win about 63% of their fights, far higher than other popular AC/DC singles like “Thunderstruck,” “T.N.T.” and “Back in Black.”

The Curse is Back: Bucking conventional wisdom, both Morales and Oki walked out to tunes by Eminem, with the former selecting “Without Me” and the latter picking “Till I Collapse.” Both fighters lost, making all eight that have selected Eminem this year as their walkout artist losing competitors.