Fight Facts: UFC on ESPN 55 ‘Nicolau vs. Perez’

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: 7,641
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 688

The Ultimate Fighting Championship made history in several unexpected ways after Saturday’s placeholder fight card. With a fight card littered with knockouts, the most unexpected occurrence might have taken place between bouts instead of during combat. UFC on ESPN 55 featured the first female cage announcer in company history, a few sluggers keeping their perfect finish rates intact and the surprising performance from a man named “Taco.”

Not Laura Sanko: Midway through the event, announcer Joe Martinez lost his voice and could not continue calling the fights. UFC roving reporter Charly Arnolt took over, making her the first woman in organizational history to announce fights, doing so until the main event. While Laura Sanko did this previously for Dana White's Contender Series, those are not UFC events.

Back at UFC 250: Alex Perez picked up his first win since June 2020 when he lamped Matheus Nicolau with one punch. At that time, 16 of the other 25 competitors on this card had not yet made their UFC debuts.

Lower Lap Time: With a finish rate of a little over 50%, the stoppage at 2:16 of Round 2 marks just the second time that Perez has put someone away beyond the first round. He did this first against Carls John de Tomas in 2017.

He Likes Blood: Bogdan Guskov retained his 100% stoppage rate by drumming out Ryan Spann in the second round. Four of his 16 wins inside the distance have occurred after the five-minute mark.

Silva on Silva Violence: After 15 minutes of combat, Karine Silva picked up the unanimous nod over Ariane Lipski. This marked the first time that “Killer” had needed to involve the judges to get the victory.

Grindingly Delicious: Throughout their match, Silva hit five takedowns on Lipski. This single-match tally at flyweight is the fifth-most in the division’s history. Gina Mazany, Lara Procopio, Valentina Shevchenko and Erin Blanchfield each landed seven in one past appearance.

Diniz Is Served: In a flurry of punches, Jhonata Diniz felled Austen Lane around the midpoint of the second round. The 32-year-old from San Jose dos Pinhais, Brazil, has earned all seven of his pro victories via knockout.

Stay in Your Lane: Lane has now competed in 18 matches as a pro MMA fighter. The Floridian has seen 16 end by knockout, win or lose, with a no contest and a submission victory as the other different results.

Too Bad He Missed Weight: Coming into his pairing with Jonathan Pearce, David Onama had earned all 11 of his pro wins by stoppage. Against “JSP,” Onama needed all three rounds to win.

Call the Doctor, But Not for Me: Uros Medic bounced back from a submission loss by flattening Tim Means in just over two minutes. “The Doctor” has yet to hear the final bell as a pro.

Means Not as Mean: Means made his 25th walk to the cage as a UFC welterweight in a losing effort. This puts him in sole possession of the fourth-most fights in that division’s history, behind Thiago Alves (26), Matt Brown (30) and Neil Magny (32).

Taco Beat Goku: Chris Padilla pulled off the biggest betting upset of the evening at +350 odds to submit an overweight James Llontop. “Taco” notched his 12th win inside the distance across his 14 pro victories.

Ivana Said Na: Still early into her professional career, Ivana Petrovic advanced her high stoppage rate to 86% with an arm-triangle choke of Na Liang. The Norwegian woman has earned half of her finishes by tapout and the other half via strikes.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC on ESPN 55, Nicolau (23 fights), Michal Figlak (nine fights), Caio Machado (11 fights) and Mann (eight fights) had never dropped consecutive outings; Diniz had never competed beyond Round 1 (six fights) and no competitor named “Taco” had ever graced the Octagon (Padilla).

Jump the Gilly: Nicolau has bounced around walkout tunes throughout his UFC tenure, rarely selecting the same song more than once. The Brazilian switched to “The Boss” by James Brown, music generally associated with a Dustin Poirier entrance, and a big right hand wiped him out. Despite the loss, fighters emerging to this tune still prevail in about 62% of their fights.

You Did This to Yourself: Ahead of both UFC appearances, Machado has walked out to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” He has suffered defeats after both walkouts, dropping the win percentage of fighters selecting this tune to .321.