Fight Facts: UFC 273 ‘Volkanovski vs. Korean Zombie’

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: 6,568
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 600

The Ultimate Fighting Championship took a trip back to Florida for the first time in nearly a year, staging up in front of a packed house in the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena. While most of the night consisted of prolonged fights that went the distance, a few statement-making performances stood out among the pack. UFC 273 featured a slew of undefeated fighters coming out unscathed at night’s end, a dominant champ putting a stamp on a noteworthy defense and an old dog that can’t help but show off his tricks in his fourth decade of combat.

Happy 600: The UFC staged its 600th event with UFC 273, and over the years, it has averaged slightly fewer than 11 bouts per event. The halfway point of UFC cards came at UFC 181 in 2014, as its 300th fight card took place with Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler 2 as its headliner.

Unanimously Perfect: Four undefeated fighters came into UFC 273, and all four emerged with their hands raised. Khamzat Chimaev, Mark O. Madsen, Ian Garry and Piera Rodriguez all took home unanimous decisions to keep their perfect records intact.

Long Night, Many PBP Words: Throughout the night, nine of the 12 bouts on the card went the distance. The UFC record stands at 11 from UFC 263, and only eight events saw more fights end up in the hands of the judges.

Time to Discuss All-Time 145 Status: Registering his third title defense in the featherweight division, Alexander Volkanovski tied two-time foe Max Holloway for the second most successful defenses in divisional history. Jose Aldo stands alone on top with seven.

Four on Many Floors: The stoppage for Volkanovski came in the fourth round over Chan Sung Jung, making him the fourth featherweight in company history to win a fight in Round 4. Jung did it first in 2012, then Aldo finished Jung in the fourth frame in 2013, followed by Holloway’s 2018 win over Brian Ortega.

With One Forgivable Loss: Volkanovski finds himself on a 21-fight win streak after demolishing “The Korean Zombie.” Only six of the other 23 competitors on the card have even competed that many times.

Hot Start: Inside the Octagon, Volkanovski has gone a perfect 11 for 11, making him the fifth fighter in UFC history to start off his tenure by winning more than 10 fights in a row. Royce Gracie, Anderson Silva, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Kamaru Usman are the others.

He Goes Down in the Fourth: Inside the Octagon, Jung fell short in the fourth round for the second time. He is the only fighter in promotional history to lose more than once in Round 4.

Great Shot, Kid: The Aussie known as “The Great” is now the 11th fighter in organizational history to string together a win streak above 10 straight. The only one in the UFC with an active win streak longer than Volkanovski is Usman, who has notched 15 wins consecutively.

The Aljo Era Arrives: Defeating Petr Yan by split decision, Aljamain Sterling unified the bantamweight belts. The win was his 12th in the bantamweight division, putting him one shy of T.J. Dillashaw’s record of 13.

Cardio Held Up: In a hard-fought thriller, Chimaev bested Gilbert Burns by decision. The three-round contest marked the first time that “Borz” had ever gone the distance as a pro in his 11th fight.

Outstruck But Victorious: Chimaev is now a spotless 11-0 after beating Burns. He did absorb far more damage than usual, as his past four opponents combined for one single significant strike landed on him. Burns lumped him up with 119, outlanding him in Round 2 and 3 and surpassing Chimaev’s total of 108.

So Many Punches to the Face: The 119 significant strikes scored by Burns surpassed his personal best inside the Octagon by a wide margin. He had never connected with more than 83 prior to this affair with Chimaev.

If at First You Don’t Succeed: Mackenzie Dern pulled off the win over Tecia Torres by a contentious split decision. Over the course of the bout, Dern officially attempted three submissions, extending her lead for the most submission attempts in UFC women’s strawweight history.

Have the Judges Over for Dinner: As a pro, Torres has now reached the scorecards in 17 of her 19 appearances, including eight of her last nine.

But He’s 37: Madsen outlasted and outwrestled Vinc Pichel to pick up a decision win. The Danish competitor is now a flawless 12-0 as a pro, and half of his victories have come by decision, including each of his last three.

Is He the Future: “The Future” Garry snagged a win by decision over Darian Weeks to keep his perfect record intact at 9-0. The Irishman has been to the scorecards in two of his last three, and his finish rate fell to 67% in the process.

Learn Other Chokes: Claiming a decision victory against newcomer Josh Fremd, Anthony Hernandez went the distance for just the second time as a pro. The previous five bouts for “Fluffy” in the UFC or Dana White's Contender Series ended within two rounds.

Rocky Road to the Top: On short notice, Raquel Pennington came in to top Aspen Ladd on the scorecards. Already holding the division’s record for the most fights (15), her 10th win as a bantamweight puts “Rocky” one behind 135-pound leader and former foe Amanda Nunes.

Canada Gets a New Name: UFC debutant Mike Malott smote Mickey Gall with punches in the opening round to keep his 100% finish rate intact. Exactly half his wins have come due to strikes, with the other half due to submission, and every one coming in Round 1.

A Grey-Haired Snake: Tapping out Jared Vanderaa, Alexey Oleynik recorded his 60th professional MMA victory. “The Boa Constrictor” is now tied for the 10th-most wins in the history of the sport with Jeff Monson – Monson only holds 60 wins in MMA, as a 2013 contest with Denis Komkin was a mixed-rules bout.

Nearly Unmatchable Resume: A whopping 47 of Oleynik’s career wins have come by submission, including four by scarf hold and 14 with his patented Ezekiel choke. He celebrates more wins by sub than all 10 competitors on the UFC 273 main card combined (43), as well as a higher tally than the other 13 on the prelims put together (39).

Five or Ten Years Left: When Oleynik made his professional MMA debut in November 1996, neither Garry nor Kay Hansen were born yet. His opponent Vanderaa was seven years of age at the time.

Wear Your Scarf, It’s Cold Outside: Oleynik’s scarf hold clocks in as the seventh in UFC history, not counting Alejandro Perez’s armlock from the scarf hold position of Johnny Eduardo in 2021. The Russian and Mark Coleman are the only two to ever land more than one in the Octagon.

Chasing Frank: Seven of Oleynik’s nine victories as a UFC fighter have come by tapout, following his submission of Vanderaa. He is now one shy of Frank Mir’s record for the most in UFC heavyweight history.

La Fiera Burns Long: Starting off her career at 8-0, the first four wins for Rodriguez came by knockout. Since then, three of four have gone the distance for “La Fiera,” including her triumph over the heavy Hansen.

Bad Trend for Heavy Fighters: Ahead of his bantamweight matchup with Daniel Gustavo Santos, Julio Arce missed weight by half a pound. As Arce won the fight by decision, he is the first fighter in 2022 to come in heavy and win a fight inside the Octagon. The others this year including Hansen have all come up short.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC 273, Chimaev had never competed beyond Round 2 (10 fights); Pichel had never lost on the scorecards (16 fights) and Ladd (11 fights), Gall (11 fights) and Weeks (six fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts.

AC/DCVSAC/DC: Both Madsen and Pichel picked songs by AC/DC when they faced off against one another; it is an extreme rarity for two fighters to select the same artist. Madsen went with “Thunderstruck” while Pichel gravitated towards his staple of “Highway to Hell,” and Madsen got it done. It marked the first time two competitors had both chosen AC/DC songs for opposing walkouts.

I Don’t Wanna Waste My Time A first for recorded UFC walkout music, Malott walked out to Sum 41’s “Fat Lip.” He is the first fighter to pick any song performed by Sum 41, and he pulled off the first-round knockout.

Rogues Without Regret: For his entire 16-fight UFC tenure, Oleynik has gone with unorthodox walkout choice “The Ballad of Fighting” by Vladimir Vysotsky. He is the only competitor to select music from this Russian artist.