UFC Fight Night 81 post-fight facts: Cruz joins small group of 2-time titleholders

The UFC got its second memorable title fight in as many tries this year when Dominick Cruz and T.J. Dillashaw clashed for five highly competitive rounds at UFC Fight Night 81 with the bantamweight championship on the line.

Boston’s TD Garden played host to Cruz’s (21-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) title-winning performance when he narrowly edged Dillashaw (12-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) by split decision in the FOX Sports 1-televised headliner to regain the belt he never officially lost.

The back-and-forth affair between arguably the two greatest 135-pound fighters the sport has seen managed to live up to expectations, but ultimately, Cruz came out with the victory and title.

Check below for 60 post-fight facts to come out of UFC Fight Night 81.

* * * *

General

UFC Fight Night 81 featured the eighth UFC title change since December 2014.

Debuting fighters went just 1-4 at the event.

The Reebok Athlete Outfitting payout for the event totaled $230,000.

Cruz, Dillashaw, Ed Herman and Luke Sanders earned $50,000 UFC Fight Night 81 fight-night bonuses.

UFC Fight Night 80 drew an announced attendance of 12,022 for a live gate of $1.3 million.

Betting favorites went 6-7 on the card.

Total fight time for the 12-bout card was 2:23:39.

Main card

Dominick Cruz

Cruz became the second fighter in UFC history to win a belt by split decision. Robbie Lawler also accomplished the feat against Johny Hendricks at UFC 181.

Cruz became the sixth fighter in UFC history to have two or more title reigns in one weight class. Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, Cain Velasquez, Matt Hughes and Georges St-Pierre also accomplished the feat.

Cruz extended his career-high winning streak to 12 fights. He hasn’t suffered a defeat since March 2007.

Cruz’s four-fight UFC winning streak in bantamweight competition is tied for the second longest active streak in the division behind Raphael Assuncao (seven).

Cruz’s 11 victories in UFC/WEC bantamweight competition are the most in combined divisional history.

Cruz has earned three of his four UFC victories by decision. He’s recorded 13 of his 21 career wins overall by going the distance.

Cruz’s 45 takedowns landed in UFC/WEC bantamweight competition are the most in combined divisional history.

Dominick Cruz and T.J. Dillashaw

Dillashaw failed to record a third consecutive bantamweight title defense. No 135-pound champion in UFC history has defended the belt more than twice.

Dillashaw has suffered two of his three UFC losses by split decision.

Dillashaw became the first fighter in UFC history to land 100 or more significant strikes in five consecutive fights. He’s landed 634 significant strikes over his past five contests.

Dillashaw earned his sixth fight-night bonuses in UFC bantamweight competition, the most in divisional history.

Eddie Alvarez

Eddie Alvarez (27-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) improved to 12-2 in his past 14 career fights.

Alvarez earned just the sixth decision victory of his career. Two of those wins have come under the UFC banner.

Alvarez has earned both of his UFC victories by decision.

Anthony Pettis (18-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in his career.

Pettis became the fifth of six former lightweight champions who have suffered a defeat in their next UFC bout after losing the title. Benson Henderson is the only ex-champ to rebound with a victory.

Pettis has allowed a combined 20 completed takedowns from his opponents in his three UFC losses.

Pettis has suffered all four of his career losses by decision.

Travis Browne (18-3-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) has earned 16 of his 18 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished his opponent in all but one of his UFC victories.

Matt Mitrione

Matt Mitrione (9-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) has suffered four of his five career losses by stoppage.

Francisco Trinaldo’s (19-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC) five-fight UFC winning streak in lightweight competition is tied for the third longest active streak in the division behind Tony Ferguson (seven) and Khabib Nurmagomedov (six).

Trinaldo has earned five of his past six victories by decision.

Ross Pearson (18-10 MMA, 10-7 UFC) fell to 5-4 with one no-contest since he returned to the UFC lightweight division in December 2012.

Preliminary card

Patrick Cote and Ben Saunders

Patrick Cote (23-9 MMA, 10-9 UFC) improved to 5-1 since he dropped to the UFC welterweight division in March 2013.

Cote earned consecutive stoppage victories under the UFC banner for the first time since 2008.

Ben Saunders (18-7-2 MMA, 6-4 UFC) fell to 3-1 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in August 2014.

Saunders suffered his first UFC loss since August 2010.

Saunders has suffered all four of his career stoppage losses by knockout.

Ed Herman (23-11 MMA, 10-7 UFC) was successful in his return to the light-heavyweight division. He earned his first victory in the weight class since March 2005.

Herman has alternated wins and losses over his past six fights.

Herman earned his first knockout victory since June 4, 2011 – a span of 1,688 days (more than four years) and nine fights.

Tim Boetsch (18-10 MMA, 9-9 UFC) was unsuccessful in his return to the UFC light-heavyweight division. He hasn’t earned a victory in the weight class since August 2010.

Boetsch suffered his third consecutive loss to extend the longest skid of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since August 2014.

Boetsch fell to 2-6 in his past eight UFC appearances.

Boetsch has suffered three consecutive stoppage losses for the first time in his career.

Boetsch has suffered seven of his nine UFC losses by stoppage.

Chris Wade

Chris Wade (11-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) has earned both of his UFC stoppage victories by submission.

Mehdi Baghdad(11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) had his seven-fight winning streak snapped for his first defeat since May 2011.

Baghdad suffered the first submission loss of his career.

Luke Sanders (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has earned eight of his 11 career victories by stoppage.

Sanders earned just the second submission victory of his career and first since April 28, 2011 – a span of 1,725 days (nearly five years) and nine fights.

Paul Felder (11-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) earned the first submission victory of his career.

Daron Cruickshank (16-8 MMA, 6-6 UFC) suffered his third consecutive loss to extend the longest skid of his career.

Cruickshank has suffered four of his six UFC losses by submission.

Ilir Latifi (11-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has earned three of his four UFC victories by knockout.

Ilir Latifi

Latifi became the first light heavyweight in UFC history to earn two stoppage victories in less than one minute each.

Sean O'Connell (17-7 MMA, 2-3 UFC) suffered his third loss in his past five fights.

O’Connell has suffered both of his UFC stoppage losses by knockout.

Charles Rosa (11-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) earned the first decision victory of his career.

Kyle Bochniak (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) had his six-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.

Rob Font (12-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) extended his career-high winning steak to 11 fights.

Font has earned his past four victories by stoppage, the longest streak of finishes in his career.

Font has earned both of his UFC victories by knockout.

Joey Gomez (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) had his six-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.

Francimar Barroso (18-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC) has earned all three of his UFC victories by decision.

Elvis Mutapcic (15-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered all four of his career losses by decision.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 81, 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.