UFC Fight Night 33 milestones and footnotes

UFC Fight Night 33 in Brisbane, Australia gave us a plethora of noteworthy performances to chew on. We were treated to a frenetic bantamweight bout that largely took place at distance, a dominating light heavyweight performance that focused on ground work, a left hook that brought a legend’s career full-circle, and the work of two gutsy heavyweights who entertained in an unlikely way.

Let's take a look at who made history, courtesy of FightMetric.

Takeya Mizugaki entirely rewrote the bantamweight record books in one bout. Mizugaki came into his fight with Nam Phan needing to land just nine strikes to pass Scott Jorgensen for most total strikes landed in UFC/WEC bantamweight history. Mizugaki’s 135-pound record now stands at 1,092 total strikes landed. Mizugaki also passed Jorgensen for most total fight time in UFC/WEC bantamweight history, doing so at exactly the 12-minute mark. Mizugaki has now fought for 3:09:20 as a Zuffa bantamweight. However, these two milestones don’t begin to tell the story of the fight. Mizugaki and Phan set a new bantamweight record together. Their 252 combined significant strikes are the most ever landed in a UFC/WEC bantamweight fight. Though both fighters had their moments, Mizugaki controlled most of the bout’s exchanges. His 152 significant strikes set a new UFC/WEC single-fight bantamweight record, surpassing Miguel Torres’ 144 significant strikes landed at WEC 40 against …Takeya Mizugaki. Mizugaki earned his fourth consecutive win and his eighthoverall as a UFC/WEC bantamweight, tying Renan Barao and Miguel Torres for third-most wins in bantamweight history.

For Phan, the judges’ decision for his bantamweight debut didn’t go in his favor but he made his mark nonetheless. He landed 100-plus significant strikes for the fourth time in the UFC, tying Georges St-Pierre and Chris Lytle for the most 100-plus significant strike performances. Phan also became just the second fighter in UFC history to land 100-plus significant strikes in a single fight in two different weight classes (Court McGee). Phan and Mizugaki combined for 696 total strike attempts, the fourth-most ever in a UFC fight. Phan has been in UFC fights with the most (Fox 4), the second-most (UFC 136), and the fourth-most strike attempts ever. In other words, a Nam Phan fight is a FightMetric scorer’s worst nightmare.

Ryan Bader easily bested some career highs and, in the process, easily bested Anthony Perosh. Bader’s 70 significant strikes landed against Perosh became a new personal UFC best, surpassing his 55 significant strikes landed against Quinton Jackson at UFC 144. It was Bader’s relentless ground attack that really separated the two combatants. Bader finished the bout with 156 total strikes landed to just 11 for Perosh. Bader’s plus-145 total strike differential is tied for third-largest ever in a UFC light heavyweight bout. Bader landed 141 of his 156 strikes while on the ground, the fifth-most ever landed by a light heavyweight on the ground in a single fight. His three takedowns make it 23 for his UFC career, enough to pass Phil Davis for fifth-most ever at 205 pounds

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua made short work of James Te Huna, earning a one-punch knockout at just 1:03 of the first round. It was Rua’s sixth KO/TKO victory inside the Octagon, tying Rashad Evans for second-most in light heavyweight history (first is Chuck Liddell with nine at 205 pounds). Rua hadn’t finished an opponent that quickly sincesecond professional bout where he stopped Angelo Antonio de Oliveira at Mecca 8 in 55 seconds. Rua’s 15 knockouts in UFC/PRIDE light heavyweight competition are the most ever in the weight class, and with the victory, Rua tied Quinton Jackson with his 18^th win in UFC/PRIDE 205-pound competition, the most ever.

We end with Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva giving us a heavyweight fight we’ll never stop talking about. In a bout that many predicted wouldn’t last five minutes -- nevermind five rounds -- Hunt and Bigfoot showed veteran poise in the first two rounds before going for broke in the final three. In the gritty, back-and-forth affair, Hunt and Silva combined for 200 significant strikes, setting a new heavyweight record for combined significant strikes landed in a single fight. Hunt finished the bout with 103 significant strikes landed to Silva’s 97. Both fighters were credited with one knockdown of the other, and Silva’s largest output came in round four with 32 significant strikes landed while Hunt’s largest output was in round five with 53 significant strikes landed.