UFC Fight Night 99 pre-fight facts: Ross Pearson first to reach 5 fights in 2016

For the first time since November 2014 the UFC will host two events in one day, and the first half of Saturday’s doubleheader will see UFC Fight Night 99 take place at SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

A middleweight rematch tops the card when former Strikeforce champion Gegard Mousasi (40-6-2 MMA, 7-3 UFC) looks to get revenge on a stunning September 2015 loss to Uriah Hall (12-7 MMA, 5-5 UFC), who hasn’t won a fight since his second-round TKO of “The Dreamcatcher” at UFC Fight Night 75.

That isn’t all the UFC’s first event in Belfast since June 2007 has to offer, though. For more, check out 35 pre-fight facts about UFC Fight Night 99.

* * * *

Main event

Gegard Mousasi

Mousasi competes in his second UFC bout in a 42-day stretch. He defeated Victor Belfort at UFC 204.

Mousasi becomes the third fighter to make four UFC appearances in 2016, joining Ross Pearson and Sam Alvey.

Mousasi competes in a main or co-main-event bout for the 10th time in his 11 UFC appearances.

Mousasi has earned 33 of his 40 career victories by stoppage. He’s earned 30 of those in Round 1.

Mousasi absorbs just 1.34 significant strikes per minute in UFC middleweight competition, the best rate among active fighters in the weight class.

Mousasi defends 82.8 percent of all opponent takedown attempts in UFC middleweight competition, the second highest rate among active fighters in the weight class behind Krzysztof Jotko (89.5 percent).

Hall enters the event on the third two-fight skid of his career. He has never suffered three consecutive losses.

Hall has earned four of his five UFC victories by stoppage.

Hall is one of two fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a spinning back kick to the head. Bantamweight Renan Barao also accomplished the feat.

Remaining main card

Teruto Ishihara

Ross Pearson (19-12 MMA, 11-9 UFC) becomes the first fighter to make five UFC appearances in 2016.

Pearson’s five knockout victories in UFC lightweight competition are tied for third most in divisional history behind Melvin Guillard (seven) and B.J. Penn (six).

Teruto Ishihara (9-2-2 MMA, 2-0-1 UFC) has earned eight of his nine career victories by knockout. That includes both of his UFC wins.

Preliminary card

Ian McCall

Ian McCall (13-5-1 MMA, 2-3-1 UFC) returns to competition for the first time since Jan. 31, 2015. The 658-day layoff is his longest since 2004.

McCall has fought to a decision in all six of his UFC appearances.

McCall defends 90 percent of all opponent takedown attempts in UFC flyweight competition, the highest rate in divisional history.

McCall holds the UFC flyweight record for most leg kicks landed in a single fight with 43 against Illarde Santos at UFC 163.

McCall’s two fight-night bonuses for UFC flyweight bouts are tied for the second most in divisional history behind Demetrious Johnson (five).

Neil Seery (16-12 MMA, 3-3 UFC), 37, is the oldest active fighter in the UFC flyweight division.

Seery’s 10 submission attempts in UFC flyweight competition are tied for second most in divisional history behind Louis Smolka (15).

Seery has suffered all three of his UFC losses by decision.

Kevin Lee

Kevin Lee (13-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC), 24, is the youngest of the 28 fighters scheduled to compete at the event.

Lee has completed at least one takedown against seven of his eight UFC opponents.

Magnus Cedenblad’s (14-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) four-fight UFC winning streak in middleweight competition is tied for the fourth longest active streak in the division behind Yoel Romero (eight), Derek Brunson (five) and Michael Bisping (five).

Cedenblad has earned 12 of his 14 career victories by stoppage.

Kyoji Horiguchi (17-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) has earned four of his six UFC victories by decision.

Horiguchi has landed a greater number of significant strikes than his opponent in all but one of his UFC bouts.

Horiguchi became the sixth Japanese fighter in UFC history to come up short in a title fight when he lost to Demetrious Johnson at UFC 186. Fighters from the country are 0-6-1 in UFC championship fights.

Ali Bagautinov (14-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has earned three of his four UFC victories by decision.

Magomed Mustafaev (13-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) enters the event on an 11-fight winning streak. He hasn’t suffered a loss since April 2012.

Mustafaev has earned all 13 of his career victories by stoppage. Both of his UFC victories are by knockout.

Justin Ledet (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is 2-0 with one no-contest since he returned to MMA competition after a nearly four-year layoff in February.

Ledet’s 113 significant strikes landed against Chase Sherman at UFC Fight Night 92 are tied for the second most by any debuting UFC heavyweight behind Tim Sylvia’s 138 at UFC 39.

Zak Cummings and Santiago Ponzinibbio

Zak Cummings (19-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) is one of 17 fighters in UFC history to finish a fight via D’arce choke. He accomplished the feat against Ben Alloway at UFC Fight Night 27.

Milana Dudieva (11-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) returns to competition for the first time since April 4, 2015. The 595-day layoff is the longest of her nearly eight-year career.

Marion Reneau (6-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC), 39, is the oldest of the 28 fighters scheduled to compete at the event.

For more on UFC Fight Night 99, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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