Erick Silva may have entered his name into the book of really impressive records when he became the first fighter in UFC history to defeat three opponents without getting hit once, but the event as a whole achieved a much more inglorious title. UFC Fight Night 36: Machida vs. Mousasi will go down in history as the longest UFC event to date in terms of in-cage action. And that includes the dark ages of unlimited round times.
From open to close the UFC’s Jaragua do Sul Fight Night offering stretched a monumental 173 minuts, 32 seconds. Or, in lay-terms 2 hours, 53 minutes, 32 seconds of fighting. The previous record holder was actually the last event. UFC 169 ran a total of 171 minutes and 14 seconds. Prior to that event, the record was held by UFC on Fuel TV 7, headlined by Renan Barao vs. Michael McDonald, which included 10 decisions in it’s 12 fight card and clocked in at 168 minutes, 39 seconds. That means that the three longest events in UFC history have occurred in the past year (almost to the day).
Our own Brent Brookhouse already noted in his post fight analysis piece that the decision rate is way up in bouts this year, to the point that it’s more indicative of an anomaly than a serious shift. However, that isn’t to say that fans wouldn’t be smart to assume that they’ll be in for a few more incredibly long, decision heavy cards this year as the UFC looks to book more events with more fights and more debuting fighters all the time. It may be that we’re headed for a more decision heavy era of MMA in the UFC and while I don’t expect it to stay at current levels, I wouldn’t be surprised by a general shift in that direction.
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