By the Numbers: ‘TUF 22’ Finale

Tristen CritchfieldDec 12, 2015

Don’t look now, but Frankie Edgar is knocking on the door of yet another title shot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The former lightweight champion made a huge statement at “The Ultimate Fighter 22” finale on Friday night, as he knocked out Chad Mendes 2:28 into the opening round of their featherweight main event showdown at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

Edgar usually spends quite a bit of more time in the Octagon, so the abbreviated showdown didn’t produce his usual plethora of milestones, but it’s a tradeoff “The Answer” will gladly accept. Here is a by-the-numbers look at the “TUF 22” finale, with statistics courtesy of FightMetric.com.

5: Consecutive featherweight triumphs for Edgar, the fourth-longest active streak in the division behind Jose Aldo (seven), Conor McGregor (six) and Max Holloway (six).

13: Significant strikes landed by Edgar in his stunningly-quick victory: nine to the head, two to the body and two to the leg. Mendes, meanwhile, landed five significant strikes.

5:37:49: Total fight time for Edgar, the most in UFC history. Georges St. Pierre is No. 2 at 5:28:12. Edgar spent 2:28 in the Octagon with Mendes on Friday night.

3: Knockout or technical knockout losses for Mendes in UFC competition. In addition to Edgar, the Team Alpha Male product has been finished by McGregor and Aldo in the Octagon.

169: Total strikes landed by Ryan Hall against Artem Lobov en route to becoming the latest winner of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Hall controlled the lightweight bout with his superior grappling to cruise to a clear-cut unanimous verdict. Lobov landed just 13 total strikes in the 15-minute affair.

7: Consecutive victories for Tony Ferguson, who moved past Khabib Nurmagomedov and into sole possession of the second-longest active win streak in the lightweight division with his submission of Edson Barboza. Donald Cerrone is No. 1 with eight straight triumphs.

2: Fighters in UFC history with two wins via brabo choke. With his submission of Barboza, Ferguson joined Dustin Poirier as the only two men to accomplish the feat in the Octagon. “El Cucuy” also owns a brabo choke triumph over Mike Rio at UFC 166.

19: Significant strikes by which Ferguson outlanded Barboza. “El Cucuy” outlanded his opponent 36 to 30 in round one and 25 to 11 in round two. Ferguson notably held a 42-to-20 advantage in significant strikes to the head.

127: Significant strikes landed by Evan Dunham in his unanimous decision triumph over Joe Lauzon in a featured lightweight encounter, the third-highest total of Dunham’s Octagon tenure. He landed 152 significant strikes in a win over Rodrigo Damm at UFC 182 and 160 significant strikes in a loss to T.J. Grant at UFC 152. Lauzon, meanwhile, landed just 42 significant strikes.

393: Significant strikes absorbed by Lauzon in his last four losses against Dunham (127), Al Iaquinta (59), Michael Johnson (116) and Jim Miller (91).

6: Takedowns landed, in eight attempts, by Tatsuya Kawajiri in his decision win over short-notice foe Jason Knight. “Crusher” took Knight down at least once in every round during the featherweight bout. Kawajiri has landed 13 takedowns in his three UFC triumphs.

53: Total strikes by which Kawajiri outlanded (97 to 44) Knight. The two combatants each landed 28 significant strikes.

12: UFC triumphs for Gabriel Gonzaga following a lackluster three-round verdict over Konstantin Erokhin. That is No. 3 all-time among heavyweights in the promotion behind only Andrei Arlovski (14) and Frank Mir (16).

1: Career decision victory for Gonzaga, whose previous 16 career wins came via knockout, technical knockout or submission.

2: 10-10 scorecards submitted in UFC fights that went the distance thus far in 2015, according to MMADecisions.com. Gonzaga-Erokhin joined Mizuto Hirota vs. Teruto Ishihara as the only bouts to earn that distinction. Hirota-Ishihara ended in a draw at UFC Fight Night “Barnett vs. Nelson.” Judge Dave Hagen submitted a 10-10 scorecard in the second round of Gonzaga-Erokhin.

793: Days since Mike Pierce’s last Octagon appearance, a heel-hook submission loss to Rousimar Palhares at UFC Fight Night “Maia vs. Shields” in October 2013. Palhares cranked the hold after Pierce tapped, which kept Pierce sidelined until Friday night, when he dropped a unanimous decision to Ryan LaFlare in a preliminary welterweight clash.

0: Takedowns landed by Laflare in victory. LaFlare had landed a combined 19 takedowns in his first four UFC triumphs.

197: Combined significant strikes landed by Chris Gruetzemacher (103) and Abner Lloveras (94) in their preliminary lightweight clash. Gruetzemacher notably outlanded his foe 39 to six in significant strikes to the leg.