The UFC returned to London, England’s 02 Arena for the first time in nearly a year for Saturday’s UFC 286 pay-per-view card. In the evening’s main event, Leon Edwards defended his welterweight title in a trilogy bout against the man he knocked out to earn that belt, Kamaru Usman.
In that matchup, Edwards put together what might go down as the best performance of his career — outside a fence grab that cost him a point. The UFC welterweight title holder was an improved version of the fighter who scored a late knockout over Usman at UFC 278 in August.
In the co-main event, Justin Gaethje held on to his unofficial title as the most exciting fighter in the UFC with a bloody, violent, and unexpected jab-heavy (late in the fight) decision win over Rafael Fiziev. With his victory, Gaethje served notice that he remains in the mix for another run at the UFC lightweight title.
Also worth noting is that Gaethje secured his first takedown as a member of the UFC roster late in the third round of his matchup opposite Fiziev.
Before the two headlining bouts, Gunnar Nelson landed in the UFC record books with his submission win over Bryan Barberena. With his armbar victory, Nelson broke his tie with Chris Lytle and Demian Maia for most UFC welterweight submission wins.
Below, we take a deep dive into the stats from the event. UFC 286’s main card streamed on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.
- Total Fights: 15
- Unanimous Decisions: 3
- Majority Decisions: 3
- Split Decision: 3
- KOs/TKOs: 3
- Submissions: 3
Fights by Weight Division
- Middleweight: 2
- Welterweight: 2
- Lightweight: 4
- Featherweight: 2
- Flyweight: 2
- Women’s flyweight: 3
- Total Knockdowns Landed: 1
- Total Submission Attempts: 9
- Total Reversals: 2
- Total Significant Strikes Attempted: 3,188
- Total Significant Strikes Landed: 1,664
- Total Significant Head Strikes Attempted: 2,343
- Total Significant Head Strikes Landed: 979
- Total Significant Body Strikes Attempted: 508
- Total Significant Body Strikes Landed: 408
- Total Significant Leg Strikes Attempted: 337
- Total Significant Leg Strikes Landed: 264
- Total Significant Distance Strikes Attempted: 2,774
- Total Significant Distance Strikes Landed: 1,324
- Total Significant Clinch Strikes Attempted: 312
- Total Significant Clinch Strikes Landed: 257
- Total Significant Ground Strikes Attempted: 102
- Total Significant Ground Strikes Landed: 83
- Total Strikes Attempted: 3,683
- Total Strikes Landed: 2,105
- Total Takedowns Attempted: 84
- Total Takedowns Landed: 33
- Shortest Three-Round Fight: Jake Hadley TKOs Malcolm Gordon at 1:01 of Rd. 1 via punch to body at distance.
- Latest Finish in a Three-Round Fight: Muhammad Mokaev submits Jafel Filho via neck crank at 4:32 of Rd. 3.
- Most Takedowns Landed: Two fighters with five takedowns – Chris Duncan and Gabriel Santos.
- Most Submission Attempts: Two fighters with two submission attempts – Muhammad Mokaev and Jafel Filho. These two faced each other.
- Most Knockdowns Landed: Jake Hadley with one knockdown vs. Malcolm Gordon.
Most Significant Strikes Landed in a Three-Round Fight: Jennifer Maia landed 145 significant strikes on 349 attempts vs. Casey O’Neill.
New UFC records from UFC 286
- Gunnar Nelson sets UFC welterweight record with seven career submission wins.
Stats via UFC Stats