UFC 171 post-fight facts: Hendricks, Lawler set UFC title fight striking record

With the UFC’s first two pay-per-view events of the year bogged down by a bevy decisions, the organization’s third major card of 2014 made history in a much more positive manner.

For the first time since April 19, 2008 (a span of 2,157 days), a new champion was crowned in the UFC welterweight division.

In the absence of former titleholder Georges St-Pierre, Johny Hendricks (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) defeated Robbie Lawler (22-10 MMA, 7-4 UFC) by unanimous decision in Saturday’s UFC 171 pay-per-view headliner at Dallas’ American Airlines Center.

The five-round slugfest was an instant classic, and after both men left everything on the line, Hendricks left the octagon with the belt.

The title fight was an offensive masterpiece from both sides, and Hendricks and Lawler smashed previous striking records in the contest.

To dig into the numbers from Hendricks vs. Lawler, as well as the other 12 bouts that took place at UFC 171, here are 45 post-fight facts to come out of the event.

GENERAL

Hendricks, Lawler, Ovince St. Preux and Dennis Bermudez earned $50,000 UFC 171 fight-night bonuses.

UFC 171 drew an announced attendance of 19,324 for a live gate of $2.6 million. The announced attendance was the most ever for a UFC event to take place within the United States.

Better favorites went 10-3 on the card.

Total fight time for the 13-bout card was 2:53:02.

MAIN CARD

Hendricks and Lawler combined for 308 significant strikes landed over the course of their five-round bout. That tally marks a new record for a UFC championship fight, obliterating the previous total of 256, which was set by Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz at UFC 143.

Hendricks and Lawler attempted 728 significant strikes in the fight, the second most ever in single UFC bout behind Cole Miller and Nam Phan, who attempted 788 significant strikes at UFC on FOX 4.

Hendricks’ 158 significant strikes landed are the most ever for a UFC title bout. Lawler, who landed 150 significant strikes, put up the third-highest tally ever for a championship fight.

Hendricks earned his 11th UFC welterweight victory, tying him with Matt Brown and Thiago Alves for the fifth most wins in divisional history behind St-Pierre (19), Matt Hughes (16), Josh Koscheck (14) and Jon Fitch (13).

Lawler suffered his first defeat under the UFC banner since Oct. 22, 2004 – a span of 3,431 days (more than nine years).

Tyron Woodley (13-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) has earned all three of his UFC victories by knockout.

Carlos Condit (29-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) was stopped with strikes for the first time in his 37-fight career.

Myles Jury’s (14-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) five-fight UFC winning streak is tied with T.J. Grant, Rafael dos Anjos and Khabib Nurmagomedov for the longest active streak in the lightweight division.

Jury absorbs just 1.23 significant strikes per minute of fighting, the second best defense rate in UFC lightweight history behind Ramsey Nijem (1.14). 

Diego Sanchez (24-7 MMA, 13-7 UFC) fought to a decision for the 14th time in his UFC career, tying Sam Stout for participating in the most fights to go the distance in UFC history.

Sanchez moved his total cage time numbers to 4:22:57 overall, moving him into fourth place in modern UFC history and sixth place overall behind St-Pierre (5:28:12), B.J. Penn (5:03:51), Tito Ortiz (5:00:53), Randy Couture (4:41:50) and Frankie Edgar (4:31:09).

Sanchez has suffered six of his seven career losses by decision.

Hector Lombard (34-4-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) improved to 2-0 since dropping to the UFC welterweight division.

Lombard earned his first decision victory since Oct. 28, 2010 – a span of 1,235 days (more than three years) and nine fights.

Jake Shields (29-7-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC) suffered his first decision loss since April 30, 2011 – a span of 1,051 days (nearly three years) and six fights.

Shields has completed just one of 37 takedowns attempts over the course of his past three UFC appearances.

Ovince St. Preux’s (15-5 MMA, 3-0 UFC) three-fight UFC winning streak is tied with Phil Davis for the third longest active streak in the light-heavyweight division behind Jon Jones (10) and Glover Teixeira (five).

St. Preux earned his first submission victory (not due to strikes) since Sept. 5, 2009 – a span of 1,653 days (more than four years) and 15 fights.

St. Preux registered just the second Von Flue choke submission victory in UFC history. No one has successfully finished a fight with the technique inside the octagon since namesake Jason Von Flue submitted Alex Karalexis at UFC Fight Night 3.

St. Preux’s submission victory at 1:29 of Round 1 marked the fourth fastest tap-out in UFC light-heavyweight history.

Nikita Krylov (16-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has suffered all four of his career losses by knockout or submission.

PRELIMINARY CARD

Kelvin Gastelum (8-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) earned just the second decision victory of his career.

Rick Story (16-8 MA, 9-6 UFC) has alternated losses and wins in his past eight UFC fights.

Story has suffered seven of his eight career losses by decision.

Jessica Andrade (11-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has earned both of her UFC victories by decision.

Raquel Pennington (4-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has suffered three of her four career losses by decision.

Dennis Bermudez’s (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) six-fight UFC winning streak is tied with champion Jose Aldo for the longest active streak in the featherweight division.

Bermudez improved to 6-0 since losing to Diego Brandao at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale.

Bermudez earned his first knockout victory since March 12, 2010 – a span of 1,464 days (more than four years) and 12 fights.

Bermudez became the first fighter in UFC/WEC featherweight history to score three knockdowns in a single fight.

Bermudez landed six takedowns in his victory, moving him into first place all-time in UFC featherweight history with 26. Oppositely, “The Menace” stuffed every takedown attempt from his opponent, giving him a takedown defense rate of 91.3 percent (21 of 23 defended) for his UFC career. That ranks second all-time among UFC/WEC featherweights behind Aldo (91.7 percent). 

Jimy Hettes (11-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) suffered the first knockout loss of his 13-fight career.

Alex Garcia’s (12-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) eight takedowns landed in his decision victory were the most of any fighter on the card.

Sean Spencer (11-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) suffered the first decision loss of his 14-fight career.

Renee Forte (8-4 MMA, 1-3 UFC) suffered the first decision loss of his 12-fight career.

Justin Scoggins (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) earned just the second decision victory of his career.

Will Campuzano (13-6 MMA, 0-4 UFC) fell to 1-6 in his combined UFC/WEC careers.

Campuzano has suffered his past three UFC defeats by decision.

Sean Strickland (14-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) earned his first submission victory since Nov. 25, 2010 – a span of 1,206 days (more than three years) and eight fights.

Robert McDaniel (21-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has been stopped by knockout or submission in eight of his nine professional defeats.

McDaniel suffered his first submission loss since March 15, 2008 – a span of 2,191 days (exactly six years) and 15 fights.

Daniel Pineda (18-11 MMA, 3-4 UFC) has lost four of his past five UFC fights.

For complete coverage of UFC 171, stay tuned to 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.

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