TUF 21 Finale post-fight facts: Thompson's winning streak second best at welterweight

Stephen Thompson

UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson (11-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) is making a habit of head-kick knockouts. He picked up his second in UFC competition when a spinning hook kick led to a first-round finish of Jake Ellenberger (30-10 MMA, 9-6 UFC) in The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale’s main event on Sunday.

Thompson weathered an early knockdown from “The Juggernaut” and then found his striking range. He knocked down Ellenberger with a spinning kick then followed up with the exact same technique to put an end to the matchup.

First-round knockouts were a trend throughout the event, which took place at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena and aired on FOX Sports 1. Four fights ended in the opening round due to strikes. Check below for more post-fight facts to come out of the TUF 21 Finale.

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General

MGM Grand Garden Arena

Thompson, Kamaru Usman, Jorge Masvidal, Josh Samman earned $50,000 TUF 21 Finale fight-night bonuses.

The TUF 21 Finale drew an announced attendance of 4,844 for a live gate of $291,000.

Betting favorites went 7-4 on the card.

Total fight time for the 11-bout card was 1:32:32.

Main card

Stephen Thompson

Thompson’s five-fight UFC winning streak in welterweight competition is the second longest active streak in the division behind Neil Magny (seven).

Thompson has earned four of his six UFC victories by knockout.

Thompson has defended 18 of 23 opponent takedown attempts in his UFC career for a 78.2 percent defense rate.

Ellenberger fell to 1-4 in his past five fights.

Ellenberger has suffered his past three losses by stoppage.

Ellenberger suffered just the third knockout loss of his 40-fight career.

Ellenberger earned his ninth knockdown in UFC welterweight competition and passed Georges St-Pierre and Anthony Johnson for the second most in divisional history behind Thiago Alves (11).

Kamaru Usman

Usman (6-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) earned the first submission victory of his career.

Hayder Hassan (6-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered the first submission loss of his career.

Michael Graves (5-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) earned the first decision victory of his career.

Vicente Luque (8-4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered his first decision loss since Aug. 4, 2012 – a span of 1,072 days and five fights.

Masvidal (29-9 MMA, 6-2 UFC) was successful in his return to the welterweight division.

Masvidal earned his first knockout victory since Nov. 7, 2009 – a span of 2,073 days (nearly six years) and 15 fights.

Cezar Ferreira (8-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) was unsuccessful in his welterweight debut.

Michelle Waterson

Michelle Waterson (13-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has earned 11 of her 13 career victories by stoppage.

Angela Magana (11-8 MMA, 0-2 UFC) extended her career-high losing skid to four fights. She hasn’t earned a victory since August 2011.

Magana has suffered six of her eight career losses by submission.

Maximo Blanco (12-6-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC) improved to 4-4 in his past eight career bouts.

Blanco’s three-fight winning streak is his longest since 2010.

Blanco earned his first knockout victory since Oct. 30, 2010 – a span of 1,716 days (nearly five years) and nine fights.

Blanco’s 16-second knockout victory marked the third fastest knockout in UFC featherweight history. Only Chan Sung Jung at UFC 141 and Makwan Amirkhani at UFC on FOX 14 have faster knockout finishes.

Mike De La Torre (13-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) suffered the first knockout loss of his career.

Preliminary card

Josh Samman

Samman (12-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has earned his past 11 victories by stoppage. He’s finished his opponent in all but one of his career wins.

Samman has earned all three of his UFC victories by stoppage.

Caio Magalhaes (9-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) had his four-fight UFC winning streak snapped for his first defeat since mid-2012.

Magalhaes suffered the first submission loss of his career.

Russell Doane (14-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has suffered both of his UFC losses by decision.

Trevor Smith

Trevor Smith (13-6 MMA, 3-3 UFC) has earned all three of his UFC victories by decision.

Dan Miller (14-8 MMA, 6-7 UFC) has suffered seven of his eight career losses by decision.

Miller fell to 3-7 in his past 10 UFC appearances.

Dominic Waters (9-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered all three of his career losses by decision.

Willie Gates (12-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has earned nine of his 12 career victories by stoppage.

Darrell Montague (13-5 MMA, 0-3 UFC) suffered his third consecutive loss to extend the longest skid of his career.

Montague has suffered two of his three UFC losses by first-round knockout.

For complete coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

FightMetric research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.