UFC on ESPN 3 post-event facts: Demian Maia passes Georges St-Pierre, Michael Bisping on wins list
The UFC made its return to Minnesota on Saturday after nearly seven years away with UFC on ESPN 3, which took place at Target Center in Minneapolis with a card that aired entirely on ESPN.
Francis Ngannou (14-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) proved himself as the current top heavyweight contender in the main event when he stopped former UFC champ Junior Dos Santos (21-6 MMA, 15-5 UFC) by TKO just 71 seconds into their high-stakes matchup.
Ngannou wasn’t the only fighter to earn a noteworthy win on the card, though. For more on the numbers, check below for 45 post-event facts to come out of UFC on ESPN 3.
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General
The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payout for the event totaled $162,500.
Debuting fighters went 2-2 at the event.
Ngannou, Joseph Benavidez, Alonzo Menifield and Eryk Anders earned $50,000 UFC on ESPN 3 fight-night bonuses.
UFC on ESPN 3 drew an announced attendance of 10,123 for a live gate of $952,204.77.
Betting favorites went 10-2 on the card.
Betting favorites improved to 8-12 in UFC headliners this year.
Total fight time for the 12-bout card was 1:38:12.
Main card
Ngannou’s three-fight UFC winning streak in heavyweight competition is tied for the second longest active streak in the division behind Daniel Cormier (four).
Ngannou has earned all 14 of his career victories by stoppage.
Ngannou has earned his past three victories by knockout in a combined 2:22 of cage time.
Ngannou’s nine stoppage victories since 2015 in UFC competition are second most in the company behind Thiago Santos (10).
Ngannou’s nine stoppage victories since 2015 in UFC heavyweight competition are most in the division.
Dos Santos has suffered five of his six career losses by stoppage.
Dos Santos has landed 1,068 significant strikes in UFC heavyweight competition, the most in divisional history.
Benavidez’s (28-5 MMA, 15-3 UFC) 13 victories in UFC flyweight competition are tied with Demetrious Johnson for most in divisional history.
Benavidez’s six stoppage victories in UFC flyweight competition are second most in divisional history behind Johnson (seven).
Benavidez’s five knockout victories in UFC flyweight competition are most in divisional history.
Benavidez’s four fight-night bonuses for UFC flyweight bouts are tied with Louis Smolka for second most in divisional history behind Johnson (nine).
Jussier Formiga (23-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) suffered his first stoppage loss since September 2013, which also came to Benavidez.
Formiga has suffered all three of his UFC stoppage losses by knockout.
Demian Maia’s (27-9 MMA, 21-9 UFC) 21 victories in UFC competition are second most in company history behind Donald Cerrone (23).
Maia’s 21 victories in UFC competition are the most of any Brazilian fighter in company history.
Maia’s total fight time of 6:18:12 in UFC competition is second most in company history behind Frankie Edgar (6:47:33).
Maia improved to 12-5 since he dropped to the UFC welterweight division in July 2012.
Maia’s 68 takedowns landed in UFC competition are fourth most in company history behind Georges St-Pierre (90), Gleison Tibau (84) and Demetrious Johnson (74).
Maia improved to 21-2 in UFC bouts in which he completes at least one takedown. He’s completed at least one takedown against 23 of his 30 UFC opponents.
Anthony Rocco Martin (16-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) fell to 4-1 since he returned to welterweight in April 2018. He’s 6-1 in the weight class overall.
Martin has suffered three of his five career losses by decision.
Vinc Pichel (12-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) improved to 3-1 since he returned from a career-long layoff that lasted from May 2014 to June 2017.
Pichel has earned four of his five UFC victories by decision.
Roosevelt Roberts (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) had his eight-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.
Drew Dober’s (21-9 MMA, 8-4 UFC) knockout in 67 seconds marked the fastest victory of his MMA career.
Marco Polo Reyes (8-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has suffered all six of his career losses by stoppage.
Reyes has suffered all three of his UFC losses by knockout.
Menifield (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) has earned all of his career victories by stoppage. Eight of those wins are by knockout.
Paul Craig (11-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC) has suffered all four of his career losses by stoppage.
Preliminary card
Ricardo Ramos (13-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) has earned three of his four UFC victories by decision.
Journey Newson (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered the first decision loss of his career.
Anders (12-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) improved to 1-2 in UFC light heavyweight competition.
Vinicius Moreira (9-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) suffered consecutive losses for the first time in his career.
Moreira has suffered all three of his career losses by knockout.
Dan Moret’s (13-6 MMA, 0-3 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since December 2017.
Moret has suffered four of his six career losses by decision.
Dequan Townsend (21-9 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered the first knockout loss of his career.
Amanda Ribas (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has earned six of her seven career victories by stoppage.
Emily Whitmire (4-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has suffered all three of her career losses by submission.
Maurice Greene’s (8-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) three-fight UFC winning streak at heavyweight is tied for the second longest active streak in the division behind Cormier (four).
Greene has earned six of his eight career victories by stoppage. That includes three of his four UFC wins.
Junior Albini’s (14-6 MMA, 1-4 UFC) four-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since July 2017.
For complete coverage of UFC on ESPN 3, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.