The UFC hosts its 13th and final numbered card of the year on Saturday with UFC 282, which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a main card that airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
A new champion in the light heavyweight division will be crowned. After Jiri Prochazka relinquished the belt due to injury, Jan Blachowicz (29-9 MMA, 12-6 UFC) and Magomed Ankalaev (18-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) will battle for vacant gold in the headlining act.
For more on the title bout, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts for UFC 282.
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Jan Blachowicz
Blachowicz is one of two Polish champions in UFC history. Joanna Jedrzejczyk also accomplished the feat.
Blachowicz is 10-2 in his past 12 UFC appearances dating back to October 2017.
Blachowicz is one of four light heavyweights in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a body kick. He accomplished the feat at UFC Fight Night 53.
Blachowicz lands 53.3 percent of his takedown attempts in UFC light-heavyweight competition, the third highest rate in divisional history behind Lyoto Machida (65 percent) and Ion Cutelaba (57.9 percent).
Magomed Ankalaev
Ankalaev’s nine-fight UFC winning streak at light heavyweight is the longest active streak in the division.
Ankalaev’s nine-fight UFC winning streak at light heavyweight is the second-longest in divisional history behind Jon Jones (13).
Ankalaev has earned all five of his UFC stoppage victories by knockout.
Ankalaev is the only light heavyweight in UFC history to earn multiple knockout victories stemming from kicks.
Paddy Pimblett vs. Jared Gordon
Paddy Pimblett (19-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has earned all three of his UFC victories by stoppage.
Jared Gordon (19-5 MMA, 7-4 UFC) is 4-4 in UFC lightweight competition.
Gordon has earned six of his seven UFC victories by decision.
Gordon lands 58.4 percent of his significant strike attempts in UFC lightweight competition, the third-highest rate in divisional history behind Islam Makhachev (60.2 percent) and Justin Gaethje (60.2 percent).
Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Alex Morono
Santiago Ponzinibbio (28-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) is 1-3 in his past four fights dating back to January 2021.
Ponzinibbio has earned 21 of his 28 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished 16 of those wins in Round 1.
Ponzinibbio’s four first-round knockout victories in UFC welterweight competition are tied for third-most in divisional history behind Anthony Johnson (five) and Vicente Luque (five).
Darren Till vs. Dricus Du Plessis
Darren Till (18-4-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC) is 1-4 in his past five fights dating back to September 2018.
Till is 1-2 since he moved up to the middleweight division in November 2019.
Till is one of five fighters in UFC history to land zero significant strikes in a championship bout defeat, as he did against Tyron Woodley at UFC 228. His 9:19 of cage time is the most of any fighter in the group. The previous high was 3:54.
Dricus Du Plessis’ (17-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) three-fight UFC winning streak at middleweight is the fifth-longest active streak in the division behind Andre Muniz (five), Alex Pereira (four), Andre Petroski (four) Roman Dolidze (four).
Du Plessis as earned 16 of his 17 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished eight of those wins in Round 1.
Bryce Mitchell vs. Ilia Topuria
Bryce Mitchell’s (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) six-fight UFC winning streak in featherweight competition is the third longest active streak in the division behind Alexander Volkanovski (10) and Arnold Allen (10).
Mitchell absorbs just 139 significant strikes per minute in UFC featherweight competition, the second-best rate in divisional history behind Rani Yahya (1.05).
Mitchell is one of two fighters in UFC history to earn a Twister submission victory. He accomplished the feat at UFC on ESPN 7. Chan Sung Jung also won with the technique.
Mitchell has earned five of his six UFC victories by decision.
Ilia Topuria (12-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) has earned 11 of his 12 career victories by stoppage.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Chris Daukaus
Jairzinho Rozenstruik (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) enters the event on the first losing skid of his career. He hasn’t earned a victor since June 2021.
Rozenstruik has earned 11 of his 12 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished all of those wins by knockout.
Rozenstruik’s nine-second knockout at UFC on ESPN+ 12 is the second-fastest in UFC heavyweight history behind Todd Duffee’s seven-second finish at UFC 102.
Rozenstruik’s knockout of Alistair Overeem at the 4:56 mark of Round 5 at UFC on ESPN 7 marked the third latest stoppage in UFC history behind Demetrious Johnson’s win (4:59 of Round 5) at UFC 186 and Yair Rodriguez’s victory (4:59 of Round 5) at UFC Fight Night 139.
Chris Daukaus (12-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) enters the event on the first losing skid of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since September 2021.
Daukaus has earned 11 of his 12 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished all four of his UFC wins by knockout.
Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Jay Perrin
Raul Rosas Jr. (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), at 18, becomes the youngest debuting fighter in UFC history.
Rosas Jr., at 18, can become the youngest fighter in history to win under the UFC banner.
Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Dalcha Lungiambula
Edmen Shahbazyan (11-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has suffered three consecutive losses after starting his career 11-0.
Shahbazyan has earned 10 of his 11 career victories by stoppage. That includes three of his four UFC wins.
Dalcha Lungiambula (11-5 MMA, 2-4 UFC) is 1-3 since he dropped to the UFC middleweight division in December 2020.
Chris Curtis vs. Joaquim Buckley
Joaquin Buckley (15-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) is one of four fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a spinning back kick to the head, which he did at UFC on ESPN+ 37. Renan Barao, Uriah Hall, Natalia Silva and Magomed Mustafaev also accomplished the feat.
Billy Quarantillo vs. Alexander Hernandez
Billy Quarantillo (16-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) lands 8.07 significant strikes per minute in UFC featherweight competition, the highest rate in divisional history.
Quarantillo and Shane Burgos and combined for 357 significant strikes landed, the most for a three-round fight in UFC history.
Alexander Hernandez (13-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) drops to the featherweight division after spending his previous nine UFC appearances.
Hernandez is 3-4 in his past seven fights dating back to January 2019.
Vinicius Salvador vs. Daniel Da Silva
Daniel Da Silva’s (11-4 MMA, 0-3 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since July 2021.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 282.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
