UFC Fight Night 43 post-fight facts: Jake Matthews three days too old for record

UFC Fight Night 43 was historic in both flattering and unflattering ways. On the positive side, Saturday’s event marked the UFC’s first trip to New Zealand, and with six of the 10 bout at Auckland’s Vector Arena ending inside the distance, the card must be deemed a success.

On the negative side, the show featured the first-ever UFC main event with both fighters coming off back-to-back losses. Fortunately, one man had his losing streak come to an end as Nate Marquardt (33-13-2 MMA, 11-6 UFC) returned to his winning ways against Kiwi fighter James Te Huna (16-8 MMA, 5-4 UFC).

Marquardt showed why he’s at his best when fighting at 185 pounds with a dismantling of Te Huna both on the feet and on the ground before ending the contest with a first-round submission.

Crafty work on the mat seemed to be a trend throughout the card, which featured several submissions of note, including one that will go down in history.

For more on that, as well as several other tidbits to come out of the UFC’s debut in New Zealand, here at 40 post-fight facts about UFC Fight Night 43.

GENERAL

UFC Fight Night 43 saw three fights end via submission, the third most of any fight card this year behind UFC 172 and UFC Fight Night 34, which each saw four fights end with a tap-out.

Marquardt, Charles Oliveira, Sean O’Connell and Gian Villante earned $50,000 UFC Fight Night 43 fight-night bonuses.

UFC Fight Night 43 drew an announced attendance of 8,089 for a live gate of $913,000.

Betting favorites went 7-3 on the card.

Total fight time for the 10-bout card was 1:43:23.

MAIN CARD

Marquardt earned a UFC victory for the first time since a decision win over Dan Miller at UFC 128 in March 2011.

Marquardt scored his 11th UFC middleweight victory, giving him sole possession of fourth place in divisional history behind Anderson Silva (13), Yushin Okami (13) and Chris Leben (12).

Marquardt’s seven submission or knockout victories in UFC middleweight competition are the third most in divisional history behind Silva (11) and Leben (nine). “The Great” has finished his opponent by knockout or submission in seven of his 11 UFC victories.

Marquardt earned a submission victory for the first time since Feb. 2, 2008 – a span of 2,338 days (more than six years) and 13 fights.

Marquardt registered the win on the 14th submission attempt of his UFC career. That’s tied for the second most of any middleweight in company history behind Kendall Grove (17).

Marquardt scored the ninth knockdown of his UFC career, giving him sole possession of second place in divisional history behind Silva (12).

Marquardt landed two takedowns in his victory, giving him a total of 29 in his UFC middleweight career. That’s tied with C.B. Dollaway for the third most in divisional history behind Chael Sonnen (35) and Ed Herman (30).

Marquardt’s two takedowns raised his takedown accuracy to 74.4 percent in UFC competition. That rate passes former record-holder Georges St-Pierre (73.3 percent) for the highest takedown accuracy of any fighter in UFC history among fighters with at least five bouts and 20 attempts.

Te Huna extended his career-worst losing streak to three fights. The 32-year-old has been stopped in the first round in all three of those losses.

Te Huna has suffered six of his eight career losses by submission.

Jared Rosholt’s (11-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) three-fight UFC winning streak is tied for the fourth longest active streak in the heavyweight division behind Cain Velasquez (four), Fabricio Werdum (four) and Andrei Arlovski (four).

Rosholt has earned all three of his UFC victories by decision.

Soa Palelei (21-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) fought to and lost a decision for the first time in his 25-fight career.

Palelei had his career-high 12-fight winning streak snapped and suffered his first defeat since November 2010.

Oliveira (18-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) improved to 4-2 in six fights since dropping to the UFC featherweight division in January 2012.

Oliveira has earned all six of his UFC victories by submission. He’s the first fighter in modern UFC history to earn his first six victories with the organization by submission.

Oliveira’s four submission victories in UFC featherweight competition are the most in divisional history.

Oliveira became the first fighter to earn two UFC submission victories in 2014. He also submitted Andy Ogle at UFC Fight Night 36 in February.

Oliveira has earned six submission victories under the UFC banner since his debut on Aug. 1, 2010. No other fighter has registered as many UFC submissions in that time period.

Oliveira has won seven fight-night bonuses since his UFC debut. Only Donald Cerrone (eight) has earned more fight-night bonuses in that timeframe.

Hatsu Hioki (27-8-2 MMA, 3-4 UFC) suffered a submission loss for the first time in his 37-fight career.

Hioki was stopped inside the distance for the first time in his career.

Hioki saw one of his fights end with a result other than a decision for the first time since April 2011.

Robert Whittaker (12-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) earned just the second decision victory of his 16-fight career.

Mike Rhodes (6-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) has suffered both of his UFC losses by decision.

PRELIMINARY CARD

Jake Matthews (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), 19, became the second youngest fighter to ever earn a UFC victory. His win came just three days shy of Vitor Belfort’s record, which has stood since UFC 12 in February 1997.

Matthews became the youngest fighter to ever earn a UFC submission victory.

Matthews registered just the third triangle-choke submission victory in UFC competition this year.

Dashon Johnson (9-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered the first submission loss of his career.

Richie Vaculik (10-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) earned a decision victory for the first time in his 12-fight career.

Neil Magny (11-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) earned his second UFC victory in a 49-day span. He also defeated Tim Means at UFC Fight Night 40 on May 10.

Magny earned a knockout victory for the first time since Nov. 19, 2010 – a span of 1,317 days (more than three years) and 10 fights.

Rodrigo Goiana de Lima (8-2-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered the first knockout loss of his career.

Daniel Hooker (11-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has earned 10 of his 11 career victories by knockout or submission.

Ian Entwistle (8-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered the first knockout loss of his career.

Gian Villante (11-6 MMA, 1-3 UFC) has suffered all three of his UFC defeats by decision.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 43, 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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