Fight Facts: UFC Fight Night 255 ‘Edwards vs. Brady’

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.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 8,102
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 726

The Ultimate Fighting Championship tried its best to feed red meat to the ravenous fans at the O2 Arena in London, but it was not meant to be for much of the evening. With the main event not going in the home nation’s favor, fans departed for the exits before the finish even materialized. UFC Fight Night 255, also called UFC London, featured a developing contender who has alleviated his gas tank issues, the quietest heavyweight record holder and a debuting Brazilian who danced her way into the audience’s hearts.

That Went Pear-Shaped: Nine different combatants at UFC London represented their home country of England on the billing. Just three of those competitors ended up getting out with a show and win bonus: Nathaniel Wood, Lone'er Kavanagh and Christian Leroy Duncan.

Cardio That: Sean Brady collected his largest scalp on Saturday when he submitted Leon Edwards. Tapping Edwards in the fourth round, every fight of Brady’s that surpassed the third stanza has resulted in him winning.

A New Yoel Romero: While Brady procured the win in the championship rounds, it continued a trend where the Philadelphia-based grappler at least completed Round 1. He has fought beyond the first frame in every bout of his UFC career, with his last victory that early coming against Tanner Saraceno in 2017.

The Achilles TDD: In four separate UFC appearances, Edwards has surrendered at least five takedowns to his opponent. The Brit has lost all but one of those four engagements, as he lamped Kamaru Usman with a comeback head kick in 2022.

Chasing Greatness: Settling for a close decision over Jan Blachowicz, Carlos Ulberg advanced his stellar win streak to eight in the 205-pound division. The only two men who have amassed lengthier victorious stretches held titles: Magomed Ankalaev (nine) and Jon Jones (13).

A Very Kevin Holland Fight: Seeing his finish rate dwindle to 81%, Kevin Holland took home the unanimous verdict over Gunnar Nelson. “Trailblazer” stuck his head in the proverbial lion’s mouth several times to earn his first win on the scorecards since he took a split verdict over Darren Stewart in 2020.

Get Back in There: “Gunny” has made his walk to the UFC cage just three times since 2020, with this his first loss in those appearances. His foe Holland has engaged in 19 fights in the same span.

Dance Dance Revolution: Making her debut with a prolonged, entertaining walkout, Alexia Thainara silenced the partisan crowd by tapping Molly McCann with a rear-naked choke. With the Brazilian’s primary method of victory, she celebrated one more first-round sub on her ledger—but none will be quicker than her matching eight-second armbars sprung in 2022 and 2023.

Spinning Meatball: After her defeat, 34-year-old McCann signaled her retirement from the sport. She leaves behind a UFC record of seven wins opposite seven defeats, with no triumph more significant than her spinning back elbow knockout of Luana Carolina in 2022—followed immediately by her finish with the same strike of Hannah Goldy a few months later.

Duncan and Duncan, No Relation: Both Chris Duncan and Christian Leroy Duncan had their hands raised at night’s end, beating Jordan Vucenic and Andrey Pulyaev, respectively. They previously appeared on the same billing of UFC 286, where they also won out the evening.

No More Prospect: Needing all three rounds to surpass Morgan Charriere, Wood went the distance with his foe. The soon-to-be-renamed fighter known as “The Prospect” has done this for his last eight bouts dating back to 2020.

Splitting Tacos: Chris Padilla snagged a split call over Jai Herbert to upset the fans in attendance. In the process, “Taco” pocketed his first win via decision since 2017, a span of 11 fights.

Not So Alone: Keeping his spotless record intact, Kavanagh outworked Felipe dos Santos en route to a decision in his favor. The Great Britain Top Team product has reached Round 3 in six of his last seven appearances.

Put Him in Park: Marcin Tybura ejected Mick Parkin from the ranks of the unbeaten courtesy after three grueling rounds of combat. The Polish heavyweight now sits in the top five among the winningest heavyweights in company history, tied with Stipe Miocic with 14. Andrei Arlovski’s 23 lead the pack.

Grinding is Fine: Of the 14 victories for “Tybur,” eight of those have come at the hands of the judges. This puts further space between the fighters tied for third—each of those five sport five decision wins apiece—while gaining ground on Arlovski’s 12.

Pull Him Off the Roster: Gloucester, England, native Leroy Duncan outdueled Pulyaev to claim two scores of 30-27 as well as a 30-26. The decision win for the 29-year-old is the second in his career, with each of his previous six victories coming before the final bell.

Only Good Thing on the Prelims: Notching the first submission of her professional career, Shauna Bannon nailed the 12-to-1 prop bet for her achieving this feat by armbarring Puja Tomar.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC Fight Night 255, Edwards (27 fights) and Vucenic (16 fights) had never been finished, Parkin had never been defeated (10 fights) and Nathan Fletcher had never lost on the scorecards (10 fights).

Everybody Dance!! Energetic Brazilian Thainara danced to the Octagon with a remix of Lady Gaga’s “Always Remember Us This Way” playing in the arena. She is the second fighter to select a song from the pop star, but unlike Joanne Jedrzejczyk in 2018, Thainara got her hand raised at night’s end.

He Actually Stopped: After walking out to Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Can’t Stop” for the majority of his UFC tenure, Tybura switched his tune in his previous bout to “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater. Since changing his music, “Tybur” has yet to taste defeat.