Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 253 ‘Kape vs. Almabayev’

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and Octagon oddities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

* * *

TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 8,066
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 723

The Ultimate Fighting Championship made the best of a dwindling lineup to put on a show that overdelivered on the main card. While the headlining affair dipped into the bizarre, the three preceding matchups were hot fire. UFC Fight Night 253, also known as UFC Vegas 103, featured an extremely unusual type of surrender in the main attraction, a lightweight that cannot stop brawling and the quietest contender emerging at 125 pounds.

BJ vs. GSP Was a Corner Stoppage: Manel Kape passed the UFC main event test by forcing Asu Almabayev to physically surrender in the middle of the third round, registering the win by retirement. It is the second type of this stoppage in a UFC headliner, with the first almost exactly one year ago when Shamil Gaziev called it after Round 4 against Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Kontender Kape: With his win inside the distance, Kape boosted his overall career stoppage rate to 86%. His four knockouts at flyweight put him tied for the second-most in divisional history, trailing Joseph Benavidez by one.

Bad Look: The loss for Almabayev shattered a 17-fight win streak that dates back to September 2017. At that time, five of the other 19 competitors on this lineup had yet to make their pro debuts.

Brund Force Trauma: Cody Brundage earned his first win since 2023 by drumming out Julian Marquez with punches. The Michigan native has performed nine of his 11 pro wins by stoppage, with his sole victory on the scorecards taking place in 2019.

Tristar Mentality: Nasrat Haqparast brought the judges into the equation for his “Fight of the Night” battle against Esteban Ribovics. Winner by split decision, the fighter out of Morocco has needed to hear the final bell in eight of his 10 UFC wins, moving him into a tie for the fourth-most decisions in UFC lightweight history with several names. Gleison Tibau’s 11 are the most.

Addicted to Bangers: When the dust settled, Haqparast and Ribovics connected with 282 significant strikes in their three-rounder. Haqparast has now been involved in three of the 10-most striking-heavy matches in UFC lightweight history.

Made Him Work for It: In William Gomis’ first four appearances in the Octagon, he had never needed to land more than 52 sig strikes to get his hand raised. The Frenchman nearly doubled that for a total of 101 against Hyder Amil and still fell short by split verdict.

Right Hand 2 Chin: Needing a bit over three minutes to send “Left Hand 2 God” Danny Barlow out of the rankings of the unbeaten, Sam Patterson earned his first knockout in nearly three years. The Brit posts a finish rate of 92%, with his last seven outings ending by stoppage, win or lose.

Beaned Him: Mario Pinto reached the second round before knocking Austen Lane out with a ruthless right hand. The Portugal-based fighter is still undefeated as a pro, and this win marked his first finish in the second stanza.

Like a Machine Gun: Winner of five straight in the UFC, Jose Mariscal outworked Ricardo Ramos to pick up the decision nod. The fighter known as “Chepe” and “Machine Gun” has fought into the second round in 10 straight appearances.

The Fine is Not Enough: Doing enough to slip by the overweight Lucas Almeida, Danny Silva prevailed by split decision. Four UFC fighters this year have missed weight and still competed, and all four of them have lost.

Silently Climbing the Leaderboard: J.J. Aldrich outdueled Andrea Lee to win on the scorecards. The perennial flyweight hovering outside of the top 15 made her 12th appearance at the weight class, winning seven of those. The seven wins tie her for the sixth-most in divisional history, while her six decisions put her in second place in this metric behind Katlyn Cerminara’s nine.

Always Bet the Aldrich Over: In the entirety of Aldrich’s 16-fight UFC run, she has at least reached the second round. She has not seen a first-round finish since knocking out Kathina Lowe in 2016.

Unlucky Lee: The defeat for Lee was her sixth in a row, giving her the most consecutive defeats in UFC women’s divisional history. The loss breaks a tie with names including Michelle Waterson-Gomez, Cynthia Calvillo and Ji Yeon Kim.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 253, neither Kape (27 fights) nor Almabayev (23 fights) had ever headlined a UFC event, Barlow had never been defeated (nine fights) and Lane had never landed a knockdown in the Octagon (four UFC fights).

Sweet Sweet Fantasy, Baby: Brundage remains one of two fighters in company history to use Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy” as a walkout track, getting back in the win column by knocking out Marquez. He has selected this tune for five straight outings.

Something That Can Make You Do Wrong: Barlow made his walk to the cage accompanied by “Love and Happiness” by Al Green. He is the second fighter in organizational history to pick this song, with the first Melvin Guillard in 2010. Unlike Guillard, Barlow lost.