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UFC on FOX 12 pre-fight facts: Matt Brown chases all-time finishes lead

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The UFC heads to network TV for the third time this year with UFC on FOX 12 on Saturday night, which includes a stacked card headlined by a welterweight title eliminator.

Top contenders Robbie Lawler (23-10 MMA, 8-4 UFC) and Matt Brown (19-11 MMA, 12-6 UFC) collide in the UFC on FOX 12 headliner at San Jose’s SAP Center with a shot at divisional kingpin Johny Hendricks on the line.

Along with the main event, FOX’s 12th UFC showcase features several bouts of significance; five fighters on the card put winning streaks of at least two fights on the line.

To dig into some of the statistics behind all 12 fights scheduled for the UFC’s fourth trip to San Jose, here are 70 pre-fight facts going into UFC on FOX 12.

Main event

robbie-lawler-ufc-173Lawler is 4-1 since returning to the UFC in February 2013. The lone defeat during that stretch came to UFC welterweight champion Hendricks.

Lawler will compete in his third UFC bout in a 133-day span. He knocked out Jake Ellenberger at UFC 173 and suffered a decision loss to Hendricks at UFC 171.

Lawler landed 150 significant strikes in his defeat to Hendricks, the third most ever in a UFC championship fight behind Hendricks’ 158 and Carlos Condit’s 151 in an interim title fight against Nick Diaz at UFC 143.

Lawler has earned 19 of his 23 professional victories by knockout.

Lawler’s seven knockdowns landed in UFC welterweight competition are tied for the fifth most in divisional history behind Thiago Alves (10), Ellenberger (eight), Anthony Johnson (eight) and Georges St-Pierre (eight).

Lawler has a 14:1 knockdown ratio in UFC/PRIDE/Strikeforce/EliteXC competition.

Lawler lands 4.03 significant strikes per minute, the fifth highest rate among active welterweights with at least five UFC bouts.

Lawler’s 78 percent takedown accuracy (14 of 18) through his UFC career is nearly double the current promotional average of 41 percent.

Lawler has spent just 4.7 percent of UFC fight time on his back, the fifth smallest proportion of opponent ground control among active welterweights with a minimum of five fights.

matt-brown-ufc-fight-night-40Brown enters the event on a seven-fight winning streak, the longest stretch of victories in his career. His previous career-high was just three.

Brown’s seven-fight UFC winning streak is the longest active streak in the welterweight division.

Brown’s seven-fight UFC winning streak is the third longest active streak among UFC fighters behind Jon Jones (11) and Chris Weidman (eight).

Brown has finished his opponent by knockout or submission in 17 of his 19 professional wins, including 10 of his 12 victories under the UFC banner.

Brown has earned his past five UFC victories by knockout. His current five-fight knockout streak is tied with Alves for the second longest run of KO finishes in UFC history behind Chuck Liddell (seven).

Brown’s streak of five consecutive finishes is the longest among active UFC fighters. Women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is second in the category with four.

Brown’s has recorded 10 knockout or submission finishes during his UFC tenure, tying for the ninth most of any fighter in company history behind Anderson Silva (14), Vitor Belfort (13), Matt Hughes (13), Randy Couture (11), Royce Gracie (11), B.J. Penn (11), Gabriel Gonzaga (11) and Frank Mir (11).

Brown’s 10 UFC victories by knockout or submission are the second most in welterweight history behind Hughes (11).

Brown’s nine knockout victories under the UFC banner are the most in welterweight history. He’s scored seven knockdowns in his UFC career, which is the fourth most in 170-pound history behind Alves (12), St-Pierre (eight), Ellenberger (eight) and Anthony Johnson (eight).

Brown’s 12 UFC welterweight victories are the tied for the fifth most in divisional history behind St-Pierre (19), Hughes (16), Josh Koscheck (14) and Jon Fitch (13).

Brown has been rewarded with at least one fight-night bonus in his past three UFC appearances for a total of $200,000.

Brown’s 59.1 percent significant strike accuracy is the highest rate in UFC welterweight history. It’s also the third highest rate of any fighter in UFC history behind Anderson Silva (67.2 percent) and Fabio Maldonado (60.6 percent).

Brown has attempted 22 submissions during his UFC welterweight career, the third most in divisional history behind Chris Lytle (31) and St-Pierre (23). Oppositely, the 33-year-old is one of only seven fighters in UFC history to have four or more submission losses inside the octagon.

Co-main event

anthony-johnson-ufc-172Anthony Johnson (17-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) enters the event on a career-high seven-fight winning streak.

Johnson has never lost a fight that has gone to a decision.

Johnson has earned six of his eight UFC victories by knockout. Overall, Johnson has registered 11 of his 16 career wins by knockout.

Johnson’s five first-round KO victories in his UFC welterweight career stand as the most in divisional history.

Johnson is one of four fighters in UFC history to earn three of more knockout victories in a minute or less. He accomplished the feat against Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 104, Tommy Speer at UFC Fight Night 13 and Chad Reiner at UFC Fight Night 10. No fighter in UFC history has earned four sub-one-minute knockout wins unrelated to cuts.

Johnson’s 13-second knockout of Reiner at UFC Fight Night 10 was the third fastest knockout in UFC welterweight history and the fastest knockout by a debuting 170-pound fighter.

Johnson owns a 57.7 percent takedown accuracy, the eighth best rate among active UFC fighters. Oppositely, Johnson has defend 85 percent of all opponent takedown attempts (17 of 20) in UFC competition.

antonio-rogerio-nogueira-ufc-156Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (21-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC), 38, is the oldest of the 22 fighters scheduled to compete on the card.

Nogueira competes for just the second time since December 2011.

Nogueira enters the event on his first two-fight winning streak since 2008. He recorded victories over Rashad Evans and Tito Ortiz during that stretch.

Nogueira’s defense is some of the best in the weight class; his 65.1 percent striking defense is fourth best among active light heavyweights. Moreover, he absorbs just 2.09 significant strikes per minute of fighting, also fourth best among active 205-pound fighters.

Nogueira has defend 71.7 percent of all opponent takedown attempts during his UFC career, the fourth highest defense rate among active UFC light heavyweights.

Remaining main card

clay-guida-ufc-fight-night-39Clay Guida (31-14 MMA, 11-8 UFC) is 2-1 since dropping to the UFC featherweight in January 2013.

Guida has completed 54 takedowns during his UFC career, the fifth most in UFC history behind George St-Pierre (87), Gleison Tibau (71), Jon Fitch (58) and Tito Ortiz (58).

Guida has attempted 143 takedowns during his UFC career, the most of any fighter in company history.

Guida has been awarded nine fight-night bonuses under the UFC banner, tied for the sixth most in history behind Joe Lauzon (12), Anderson Silva (12), Nate Diaz (11), Donald Cerrone (10) and Chris Lytle (10).

Guida’s total fight time of 4:07:35 during his 19-fight UFC career is the seventh most in modern UFC history.

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

Bermudez’s six victories in UFC featherweight competition are tied for the third most in divisional history behind Dustin Poirier (eight) and Chad Mendes (seven).

Bermudez is tied with Max Holloway for the most knockdowns in UFC featherweight history with five.

dennis-bermudez-ufc-fight-night-31Bermudez has been awarded four fight-night bonuses, tied for the most of any featherweight in UFC history.

Bermudez is 6-0 since suffering a first-round submission loss to Diego Brandao in “The Ultimate Fighter 14” tournament final.

Bermudez is the only fighter in UFC featherweight history to register three knockdowns in a single fight. He accomplished the feat against Jimy Hettes at UFC 171.

Bermudez’s 26 completed takedowns in his UFC career are the most in featherweight history. His takedown accuracy rate of 47.3 percent ranks third in divisional history behind Hatsu Hioki (57.1 percent) and Mendes (51.4 percent). Bermudez lands 4.73 takedowns per 15 minutes, the fourth highest rate in UFC/WEC featherweight history.

Bermudez has landed 374 during his UFC featherweight career, the fourth most in divisional history behind Holloway (497), Nam Phan (483) and Dustin Poirier (474). His 588 total strikes landed are the second most in 145-pound history behind Darren Elkins (619).

Bermudez’s output rate of 4.53 strikes landed per minute ranks fourth in UFC/WEC divisional history.

Bermudez has defended 91.3 percent of all takedown attempts during his UFC career, the highest defense rate in UFC featherweight history and second all-time in UFC/WEC featherweight history behind Aldo (91.7 percent).

Bermudez has committed to 10 submission attempts in the UFC, tied for the second most in UFC/WEC featherweight history.

Josh Thomson (20-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) has suffered five of his six career losses by decision.

Thomson was one of three fighters to hold the Strikeforce lightweight title. The others were Guida and Gilbert Melendez.

Thomson was one of the most active strikers in Strikeforce, and he landed 791 total strikes in his 13 fights with the organization, the fourth most of any fighter.

Thomson’s 69.5 percent striking defense rate is the fifth highest in Strikeforce history.

Thomson completed 23 takedowns during his Strikeforce career, the third most in organizational history.

Thomson’s 23 submission attempts in Strikeforce are the most ever. Oppositely, “The Punk” has never been submitted in his 26-fight MMA career.

Bobby GreenBobby Green’s (22-5 MMA, 3-0 UFC) three-fight UFC winning streak is tied for the sixth longest active streak in the lightweight division behind Khabib Nurmagomedov (six), T.J. Grant (five), Myles Jury (five), Anthony Pettis (four) and Donald Cerrone (four).

Green enters the event on a seven-fight MMA winning streak overall, the longest run of victories in his professional career.

Green’s submission of Jacob Volkmann at 4:25 of Round 3 at UFC 156 stands as the third latest submission in UFC lightweight history.

Preliminary card

Daron Cruickshank (15-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) is one of three fighters in UFC history to earn three knockout victories stemming from a head kick. He accomplished the feat against Erik Koch at UFC Fight Night 40, Mike Rio at UFC on FOX 10 and Henry Martinez at UFC on FOX 5.

Jorge Masvidal (26-8 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is one of just four fighters in UFC history to finish a bout by submission at the 4:59 mark of Round 2, which he did against Michael Chiesa at UFC on FOX 8.

Masvidal has landed a greater number of significant strikes than his opponent in seven of his past eight fights that have gone the distance. His 356 significant strikes landed during his Strikeforce career rank third most in lightweight history.

Masvidal’s 76.8 percent striking defense rate is the highest of any fighter in Strikeforce history.

Masvidal’s 83.3 percent takedown defense rate is the third best in Strikeforce history.

kyle-kingsbury-ufc-139Kyle Kingsbury (11-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) enters the event on a career-worst three-fight losing streak. Jimi Manuwa, Glover Teixeira and Stephan Bonnar defeated him during that stretch. Kingsbury has not registered a victory since June 4, 2011.

Kingsbury’s knockout of Ricardo Romero at the 0:21 mark of Round 1 at UFC 126 stands as the fifth fastest knockout in UFC light heavyweight history.

Kingsbury averages 3.1 takedowns landed per 15 minutes of fighting, the fifth highest rate in divisional history. His nine takedowns landed against Jared Hamman at UFC Fight Night 22 are tied for the second most ever in a light heavyweight fight.

Patrick Cummins (5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) will compete in his second UFC fight in a 49-day span. He defeated Roger Narvaez by knockout at UFC Fight Night 42 on June 7.

Cummins has earned all five of his professional victories by knockout or submission, with all but one coming in the first round.

Tim Means (20-6-1 MMA, 2-3 UFC) has earned 18 of his 20 professional victories by knockout (15) or submission (three).

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

mike-de-la-torre-tuf-nations-finaleMike De La Torre (12-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) drops to the featherweight division after suffering a split decision loss to Mark Bocek at lightweight in his promotional debut at the TUF Nations Finale.

Brian Ortega (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), 23, is the youngest of the 24 fighters scheduled to compete on the card.

Akbarh Arreola (22-7-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has earned 21 of his 22 career victories by submission (16) or knockout (five). Of those stoppages, 18 have come in the first round.

Tiago Trator(18-4-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his UFC debut on a career-high nine-fight winning streak.

Steven Siler (23-12 MMA, 5-3 UFC) will compete in the ninth bout of his UFC featherweight career, the second most of any fighter in divisional history behind Dustin Poirier (10).

Siler has attempted 10 submissions inside the octagon, tied for second most in UFC featherweight history behind Elkins (14).

Siler has suffered all but two of his 12 professional defeats by submission (five) or knockout (five).

For more on UFC on FOX 12, stay tuned to 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.

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