30 post-event facts about ‘UFC Fight Night 34: Saffiedine vs. Lim’

The UFC kicked off a new year with an international fight card as “UFC Fight Night 34: Saffiedine vs. Lim” took place Saturday as part of its debut in Singapore.

A new year marked a new beginning for several fighters on the card, and 15 of the 20 competitors who stepped inside the cage made their octagon debut, with eight of those 15 getting a UFC win for the first time.

Final Strikeforce champion Tarec Saffiedine (15-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) was the most notable of those debuting fighters, and he came out victorious, methodically out-striking Hyun Gyu Lim (12-4-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) by a 180-111 margin en route to a decision in the main event of the evening.

UFC Fight Night 34 was one of three UFC fight cards slated for this month, and the first ever to stream on UFC Fight Pass, the promotion’s newly launched digital network. With an MMA-loaded month still to look ahead too, take a minute to look back at 30 post-event facts to come out of UFC Fight Night 34.

GENERAL

Total fight time of the 10-bout card was 1:52:19.

Betting favorites went 7-3 on the card.

Eight of the 10 winners on the card earned their first UFC victory.

Saffiedine, Lim, Max Holloway and Russell Doane earned $50,000 UFC Fight Night 34 fight-night bonuses.

UFC Fight Night 34 was the fourth consecutive event to award “Fight of the Night” to the main or co-main event.

UFC Fight Night 34 drew an announced attendance of 5,216.

Hawaiian fighters went 3-0 with three finishes on the card.

UFC Fight Night 34 was just the fourth event in UFC history not to feature a fight heavier than welterweight. The others were The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale, The Ultimate Fighter 15 Finale and UFC on FOX 9.

MAIN CARD

Saffiedine became the first Belgian-born fighter to earn a UFC victory.

Saffiedine was credited with three knockdowns in his decision win over Lim.

Saffiedine has won eight of his past nine UFC/Strikeforce fights by decision. His last stoppage came in May 2010.

Lim suffered his first decision loss since Feb. 21, 2009 – a span of 1,778 days (nearly five years) and eight fights.

Lim has earned a “Fight of the Night” bonus in his past two UFC appearances.

Tatsuya Kawajiri (33-7-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is undefeated in five fights since moving down to the featherweight division.

Kawajiri has earned four of those five victories by submission.

Sean Soriano (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was submitted for the first time in his career.

Kiichi Kunimoto (16-5-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) extended his career-best winning streak to five fights.

Luiz Dutra (11-3-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was the first UFC fighter to be disqualified for illegal blows since Maximo Blanca against Akira Corassani at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale.

Kyung Ho Kang (12-7 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was the first UFC fighter to have two points deducted for a single foul since Alex Caceres (vs. Edwin Figueroa) at UFC 143.

Shunichi Shimizu (28-9-10 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was submitted for the first time since Feb. 24, 2008 – a span of 2,141 days (nearly six years) and 30 fights.

PRELIMINARY CARD

Will Chope (19-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) had his 14-fight winning streak snapped for his first defeat since January 2012.

Quinn Mulhern (19-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) remains winless in the UFC with defeats coming in the welterweight and lightweight divisions.

Mulhern went 0-7 on takedown attempts in his unanimous-decision loss to Katsunori Kikuno (22-5-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC).

Royston Wee (3-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) earned the first decision victory of his career.

Wee became the first Singaporean in UFC history to earn a victory with the promotion.

Mairbek Taisumov (21-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) earned the first decision victory of his 25-fight career.

Tae Hyun Bang (16-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) fell to 2-4 in his past six MMA fights.

Dustin Kimura (11-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has finished his opponent in 10 of his 11 career victories. “The Diamond” has defeated his past seven opponents by knockout or submission.

Jon Delos Reyes (7-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was submitted for the first time since Feb. 19, 2010 – a span of 1,424 days (nearly four years) and five fights.

Russell Doane (13-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has earned his past four MMA victories by knockout or submission.

Doane became the third fighter in UFC history to record a submission victory at the 4:59 mark of Round 2. The others are Jorge Masvidal over Michael Chiesa at UFC on FOX 8 and Chan Sung Jung against Leonard Garcia at UFC Fight Night 24.

Leandro Issa (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was submitted for the first time since Feb. 28, 2008 – a span of 2,137 days (nearly six years) and 10 fights.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 34, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Tarec Saffiedine)