Magomed Ankalaev finally got his redemption. In a rematch from their previous encounter in October, which ended prematurely due to an illegal knee, Ankalaev defeated Johnny Walker at UFC Fight Night 234. The fight took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Ankalaev won by a second-round knockout and called for a light heavyweight title shot after his victory.
Ankalaev’s resume is impressive, but it remains uncertain whether he’ll get his title shot. For now, let’s take a by-the-numbers look at UFC Fight Night 234, with stats from UFCStats.com. Ankalaev is currently on a 12-fight unbeaten streak, the fourth-longest in the UFC. He trails behind Jon Jones (19), Leon Edwards (13), and Islam Makhachev (13).
Ankalaev’s record since 2018 only has two blemishes: a draw against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 282 and the no contest against Walker at UFC 294. Ankalaev has six KO/TKO victories in UFC competition, tying him with Glover Teixeira, Rashad Evans, Thiago Silva, and Ovince St. Preux for the fourth most in the light heavyweight division. During the fight, Ankalaev landed 39 significant strikes, 25 of which were to Walker’s legs. Walker landed 24 significant strikes, 19 to Ankalaev’s legs.
Jim Miller, another fighter at the event, now has 26 career UFC triumphs, the most in the Las Vegas-based promotion. He submitted Gabriel Benitez with a face crank in the third round of their co-main event clash at lightweight. Andrei Arlovski and Donald Cerrone are tied for second with 23 career UFC wins.
Miller also has 12 submission wins in UFC competition, passing Demian Maia for second place on the promotion’s all-time list behind Charles Oliveira (16). Miller has attempted 48 career submissions, well ahead of Oliveira (40) for No. 1 in promotion history. He has made 43 UFC appearances after Saturday night, which ranks No. 1 in promotion history.
Mario Bautista won his sixth consecutive victory, the second-longest active winning streak in the UFC’s bantamweight division behind Merab Dvalishvili (11). He took a unanimous decision over Ricky Simon in a featured bout on Saturday. Bautista landed 112 significant strikes, while Simon landed 45. Simon was only able to secure 3:00 of control time in defeat, landing two takedowns in 13 attempts.
Brunno Ferreira stopped Phil Hawes 4:55 into Round 1 of their middleweight clash. This was one of 11 finishes among Ferreira’s 11 professional victories. Hawes, once a highly-regarded prospect, has a record of 1-4 in his last five UFC appearances. All four of those losses were via first-round KO/TKO.
Preston Parsons landed seven takedowns in 11 attempts in a three-round verdict over Matthew Semelsberger at welterweight. After failing to land a takedown in his UFC debut, Parsons has landed a combined 14 takedowns in his last three outings. Semelsberger, who had seven knockdowns in his previous four UFC bouts, did not score any in this fight.
Marcus McGhee, who dropped Gaston Bolanos in the second frame before securing a stoppage at the 3:29 mark of the period, has three knockdowns in as many UFC appearances. “The Maniac” has finished all three of his Octagon foes inside of two rounds.
Farid Basharat landed five takedowns in 16 attempts in a unanimous decision triumph against Taylor Lapilus at bantamweight. Basharat has landed at least two takedowns in all three of his UFC appearances thus far.
Jean Silva had a significant striking accuracy of .690 (25 of 36) in a first-round technical knockout victory over Westin Wilson at featherweight. Silva also scored a knockdown en route to his ninth career triumph via KO or TKO.
Finally, Joshua Van landed 131 total strikes during the second round of his flyweight bout against Felipe Bunes. That’s the sixth most in a single round for a flyweight bout in UFC history. By comparison, Bunes landed 28. Van shook off a slow start to defeat his Brazilian foe via technical knockout at the 4:31 mark of Round 2. Van also held a 69-to-21 advantage in significant strikes in the period.