The UFC hosts an event in Las Vegas for the first time in June on Saturday with UFC on ESPN 46, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas with a main card that airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
A critical matchup in the middleweight division takes center in stage in the main event. Former title challengers Marvin Vettori (19-6-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC) and Jared Cannonier (16-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) try to work their way to second opportunities for the belt while also battling for their respective 10th win inside the octagon.
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 about UFC on ESPN 46.
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Marvin Vettori
Vettori has earned seven of his nine UFC victories by decision.
Vettori’s average fight time of 15:41 in UFC middleweight competition is third-longest in divisional history behind Israel Adesanya (17:19) and Sean Strickland (15:54).
Vettori landed 190 significant strikes at UFC Fight Night 196, a single-fight record for a UFC light heavyweight fight.
Vettori landed 11 takedowns at UFC on ABC 2, the single-fight UFC middleweight record.
Jared Cannonier
Cannonier is 6-2 since he dropped to the UFC middleweight division in November 2018.
Cannonier is one of 16 fighters in UFC history to win fights in three weight classes. He’s been victorious at middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight.
Cannonier is one of two fighters in UFC history to earn knockout victories in three weight classes. Conor McGregor also accomplished the feat.
Raoni Barcelos vs. Miles Johns
Miles Johns (13-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) defends 72.8 percent of all opponent significant strike attempts in UFC bantamweight competition, the best rate in divisional history.
Pat Sabatini vs. Lucas Almeida
Pat Sabatini (17-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) absorbs 1.50 significant strikes per minute in UFC featherweight competition, the second-lowest rate in divisional history behind Rani Yahya (1.05).
Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. Felipe Bunes
Zhalgas Zhumagulov’s (14-8 MMA, 1-5 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since July 2021.
Zhumagulov is 1-5 in his past six fights dating back to July 2020.
Zhumagulov lands 4.87 significant strikes per minute in UFC flyweight competition, the third-best rate in divisional history behind John Lineker (5.43) and Alex Perez (5.24).
Nicolas Dalby vs. Muslim Salikhov
Nicolas Dalby (21-5-1 MMA, 5-4-1 UFC) is 4-2 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in September 2019.
Dalby has earned all five of his UFC victories by decision.
Muslim Salikhov (19-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) defends 67.3 percent of all opponent significant strike attempts in UFC welterweight competition, the best rate among active fighters in the weight class.
Dan Argueta vs. Ronnie Lawrence
Ronnie Lawrence (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) vs. Mana Martinez at UFC 271 is one of two fights in UFC history to feature two knockdowns landed for each fighter. Alex Oliveira vs. Yancy Medeiros at UFC 218 was the other.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 46.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
