Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 249 ‘Dern vs. Ribas 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: 7,996
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 717

The Ultimate Fighting Championship kicked off the new year with a show that on paper was underwhelming but overdelivered come fight night. With half the fighters on the billing coming off losses and others trying to make their first impression, the action was plentiful as it was exciting. UFC Vegas 101 featured sweet revenge in the main attraction, a quick frontrunner for “Knockout of the Year” already and brawling Hawaiian that has power for days.

Knockaround Boys and Girls: When the dust settled, seven of the 14 matches on the billing of UFC Vegas 101 concluded by knockout. This total is one shy of the UFC’s single event record, a tally tied between nine different fight cards including UFCs 92 and 199.

It’s Only a Number: Four different combatants came into UFC Fight Night 249 with unbeaten records. Of those four, only Jacobe Smith and Nurullo Aliev (10-0 each) escaped with those 0’s intact.

Climbing Two Up, One Down: Exacting revenge on Amanda Ribas, Mackenzie Dern earned her ninth win in the UFC’s strawweight division. She is now two shy from leader Angela Hill, with four other women tied at 10.

Like a Strawweight Ronda: Tapping Ribas with an armbar, Dern put herself in first place at 115 pounds for the most submissions (four). She breaks a tie with five ladies including former foe Virna Jandiroba.

For the Wee One: Snaring a “Performance of the Night” check for her handiwork, Dern earned her seventh post-fight bonus with the organization. She trails UFC strawweight leader Jessica Andrade by two.

Ponzi Staying Power: For his last seven outings, Santiago Ponzinibbio has reached the third round in the Octagon. He dispatched Carlston Harris after the midpoint of Round 3 to earn his first win since 2022.

Knock Out or Get Knocked Out: With one big left hand, Cesar Almeida flattened the storming Abdul Razak Alhassan in the opening period. The Brazilian powerhouse holds all of his stoppage wins by knockout, with four of his seven overall victories coming in Round 1.

Roman Resurgence: Roman Kopylov put Chris Curtis down for the count with a head kick with one second remaining in the match. The knockout rate for the 32-year-old from Russia rose to 86% with the triumph.

Action Delivered; Not Action Received: Across the lengthy career of “The Action Man,” he had only once before been stopped with strikes. This loss came at the hands of Ray Cooper III in 2019.

At the Buzzer: Kopylov became one of four fighters in company history to record a stoppage with one second left in a three-round engagement. He joins Leon Edwards, Paul Craig and Grant Dawson in that illustrious club.

The Prospect Hunter: Defusing another prospect, Christian Rodriguez outworked unbeaten Austin Bashi en route to a decision. The combined win/loss record for the last four men Rodriguez has beaten totals 35-0.

Throwing Coconuts: To lift his overall stoppage rate to 82%, Punahele Soriano wrecked Uros Medic in 31 seconds. Eight of the Hawaiian’s 11 wins have taken place in the opening frame, with three in under one minute.

Made Him Pay and Made Him Pay: Felipe Bunes bounced back from his first knockout loss by hitting an armbar on the overweight Jose Johnson. The Brazilian has performed 11 of his 14 pro victories inside the distance, with the lion’s share coming by tapout.

Nice, Marco: Brazil’s Marco Tulio introduced himself to the promotion by knocking Ihor Potieira’s block off. A whole 69% of the wins for the Chute Boxe Diego Lima fighter have taken place via strikes.

Cobe: In his UFC debut, Smith wrecked Preston Parsons in a bit over a minute. The fighter from Fortis MMA has seen 80% of his wins come by strikes, with seven taking place in the first frame.

Ernesta Goes to the UFC: Ernesta Kareckaite started her career with two first-round knockouts over unseasoned women. Since then, she has gone the distance in every fight, winning her sophomore effort in the UFC by taking a decision over Nicolle Caliari.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Vegas 101, Ribas had never been submitted (18 fights), Bashi (13 fights) and Magomed Gadzhiyasulov (nine fights) had never been defeated and Medic had never been knocked out (12 fights).

No Dialogue, Just Happy Music: Switching up his walkout music, Soriano went with “Walking in the Air” from the soundtrack of the animated film “The Snowman” by Howard Blake. He is the first fighter to ever walk out to a song from this animation.

He’s Gotta Be Larger Than Life: Across the history of the organization, three fights have included walkouts with the song “Holding Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler playing. All three of those competitors have lost, following Potieria’s unsuccessful venture against Tulio.