The UFC closes its September schedule ahead of a rare off week on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 228, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and features a lineup that streams entirely on ESPN+.
Lightweight contenders clash in the main event. Rafael Fiziev (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and Mateusz Gamrot (22-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) will meet in a high-stakes lightweight bout scheduled for five rounds.
For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts for UFC Fight Night 228.
Rafael Fiziev vs. Mateusz Gamrot
Fiziev has earned nine of his 12 career victories by stoppage.
Fiziev is one of 14 fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a wheel kick. He accomplished the feat at UFC on ESPN 31.
Fiziev defend 90.2 percent of opponent takedown attempts in UFC lightweight competition, the second-best rate among active fighters in the weight class behind Islam Makhachev (90.9 percent).
Bryce Mitchell vs. Dan Ige
Bryce Mitchell (15-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) absorbs just 1.71 significant strikes per minute in UFC featherweight competition, the third-best rate in divisional history behind Rani Yahya (1.05) and Pat Pat Sabatini (1.35).
Mitchell lands 59.1 percent of his significant strike attempts in UFC featherweight competition, the highest rate in divisional history.
Mitchell is one of three fighters in UFC history to earn a Twister submission victory. He accomplished the feat at UFC on ESPN 7. Chan Sung Jung and Da’Mon Blackshear also won with the technique.
Dan Ige (17-6 MMA, 9-5 UFC) is one of two featherweights in UFC/WEC combined history to earn multiple knockout wins in less than one minute. Jung is the other.
Marina Rodriguez vs. Michelle Waterson-Gomez
Marina Rodriguez (17-3-2 MMA, 6-3-2 UFC) enters the event on the first losing skid of her career. She hasn’t earned a victory since March 2022.
Rodriguez has earned five of her six UFC victories by decision.
Rodriguez’s two knockdowns landed in UFC strawweight competition are tied for fourth-most in divisional history behind Amanda Lemos (five), Rose Namajunas (four), and Angela Hill (three).
Rodriguez is the only female fighter in UFC history to fight to multiple draws.
Michelle Waterson-Gomez’s (18-11 MMA, 6-7 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of her career. She hasn’t earned a victory since September 2020.
Waterson-Gomez is 1-5 in her past six fights dating back to October 2019.
Bryan Battle vs. A.J. Fletcher
Bryan Battle (9-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) is 2-1 since he dropped to the UFC welterweight division in August 2022.
Battle’s 14-second knockout at UFC on ABC 4 is tied for the sixth-fastest finish in UFC welterweight history. Jorge Masvidal holds the record with his five-second win over Ben Askren at UFC 239.
Ricardo Ramos vs. Charles Jourdain
Ricardo Ramos (16-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) is 3-2 since he moved up to the featherweight division in November 2019.
Ramos is one of two fighters in UFC history to earn multiple knockout victories stemming from a spinning back elbow. Molly McCann also accomplished the feat.
Ramos has earned two of the seven spinning back elbow knockouts in UFC history. McCann, Dong Hyun Kim, Jiri Prochazka and Uros Medic also accomplished the feat.
Dan Argueta vs. Miles Johns
Miles Johns (13-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) defends 72.8 percent of all opponent significant strikes attempts in UFC bantamweight competition, the best rate in divisional history.
Tim Means vs. Andre Fialho
Tim Means’ (32-15-1 MMA, 14-12 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since June 2021.
Andre Fialho’s (16-7 MMA, 2-4 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since May 2022.
Fialho’s three UFC fights in 46 days during the 2022 marked the second shortest span between non-tournament bouts behind Godinez (42 days).
Jacob Malkoun vs. Cody Brundage
Jacob Malkoun (7-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) has earned all three of his UFC victories by decision.
Malkoun has landed six or more takedowns in four of his five UFC appearances.
Cody Brundage’s (8-5 MMA, 2-4 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since July 2022.
Mohammed Usman vs. Jake Collier
Jake Collier’s (13-8 MMA, 5-8 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since January 2022.
Collier is 2-5 since he moved up to the UFC heavyweight division in July 2020.
Collier is one of 17 fighters in UFC history to win in three weight classes. He also has victories at light heavyweight and middleweight.
Collier lands 7.56 significant strikes per minute in UFC heavyweight competition, the third-highest rate in divisional history behind Sergei Pavlovich (8.72) and Tom Aspinall (7.65).
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 228.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
