Filed under: Featured, News, UFC
The UFC makes one of its infrequent stops in Japan on Friday with UFC Fight Night 117, which takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama and airs on FXX following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.
After going through all sorts of changes, the card will feature a light heavyweight main event cobbled together at the last minute when Ovince Saint Preux (20-10 MMA, 8-5 UFC) welcomes former 185-pound title challenger Yushin Okami (34-10 MMA, 13-5 UFC) back to the octagon for the first time in more than four years.
The sport has a lot of history in “The Land of the Rising Sun.” The fighters will attempt to add to that when they step in the cage, but for now, it’s time to see what they’ve accomplished so far. Check below for 40 pre-event facts about UFC Fight Night 117.
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Main event
Ovince Saint Preux
Saint Preux competes in his fifth UFC main event. He’s 1-3 in previous headliners.
Saint Preux has earned 15 of his 20 career victories by stoppage. That includes six of his eight wins under the UFC banner.
Saint Preux is the only fighter in UFC/WEC/PRIDE/Strikeforce history to earn two submission victories by Von Flue choke.
Saint Preux has earned two of the four Von Flue choke victories in UFC history. Jason Von Flue and Jordan Rinaldi also accomplished the feat.
Saint Preux’s six stoppage victories since 2013 in UFC light-heavyweight competition are the most in the division.
Yushin Okami
Okami returns to the UFC for the first time since September 2013. He suffered a first-round TKO loss to Ronaldo Souza in his most recent appearance at UFC Fight Night 28.
Okami is 5-2 since his initial UFC release in late 2013.
Okami moves up to the UFC light heavyweight division for the first time in 19 promotional appearances.
Okami’s four-fight winning streak is his longest since April 2007.
Okami has earned eight of his 13 UFC victories by decision.
Okami defends 84.6 percent of all opponent takedowns in UFC middleweight competition, the second highest rate in divisional history behind Krzysztof Jotko (86.8 percent).
Co-main event
Claudia Gadelha
Claudia Gadelha’s (15-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) competes in her seventh UFC strawweight bout, tied with Randa Markos for the second most appearances in divisional history behind Joanna Jedrzejczyk (eight).
Gadelha’s four victories in UFC strawweight competition are tied for third most in divisional history behind Jedrzejczyk (eight) and Tecia Torres (five).
Gadelha enters the event on the first two-fight winning streak of her UFC career.
Gadelha’s 27 takedowns landed in UFC strawweight competition are the most in divisional history.
Jessica Andrade (16-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) makes her 12th UFC appearance, the most by any female in company history.
Jessica Andrade
Andrade is 3-1 since she dropped to the UFC strawweight division in June 2016.
Andrade’s seven UFC victories are third most of any female in company history behind Jedrzejczyk (eight) and Amanda Nunes (eight).
Andrade landed 206 significant strikes against Rosi Sexton at UFC Fight Night 30, the third most ever in a single UFC fight.
Andrade is one of three female fighters in UFC history to earn victories in two weight classes. Valerie Letourneau and Joanne Calderwood also accomplished the feat.
Remaining main card
Takanori Gomi (35-13 MMA, 4-8 UFC), who competes on his 39th birthday, is the oldest of the 22 fighters scheduled to compete at the event.
Takanori Gomi
Gomi enters the event on a four-fight losing skid, the longest of his career. He’s suffered all four losses by first-round stoppage in a total fight time of 7:39.
Gomi is 1-5 in his past six appearances overall and hasn’t earned a victory since April 2014.
Gomi is one of 12 fighters in UFC/WEC/PRIDE/Strikeforce combined history to earn a winning streak of 10-plus fights.
Gomi recorded the fastest knockout in the history of the now-defunct PRIDE organization when he stopped Ralph Gracie in just six seconds at PRIDE Bushido 3.
”Maestro” Dong Hyun Kim (14-8-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) is 1-1 since he dropped to the UFC lightweight division in June 2016.
Henrique da Silva (12-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) enters the event on a three-fight losing skid, the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since December 2016.
Da Silva has earned all 12 of his career victories by stoppage.
Gokhan Saki (0-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), a former kickboxing champion, returns to MMA competition for the first time since July 2004.
Teruto Ishihara (9-4-2 MMA, 2-2-1 UFC) has earned eight of his nine career victories by knockout. That includes both of his UFC wins.
Jussier Formiga (19-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) has earned four of his five UFC victories by decision.
Ulka Sasaki (20-4-2 MMA, 3-3 UFC) is 2-1 since he dropped to the UFC flyweight division in May 2016.
Sasaki has earned all three of his UFC victories by submission.
Preliminary card
Keita Nakamura (32-8-2 MMA, 2-5 UFC) has suffered all five of his UFC losses by decision.
Chan-Mi Jeon (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), 20, is the youngest of the 22 fighters scheduled to compete at the event.
Jeon is the youngest active fighter on the UFC roster.
Hyun Gyu Lim (13-5-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) has earned his past 11 victories by stoppage. He hasn’t won a fight by decision since his first career victory.
Lim is one of two fighters in UFC history to win two consecutive fights by knockout stemming from a knee strike. Thiago Alves also accomplished the feat.
Shinsho Anzai (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) competes in just his second fight since August 2014.
For more on UFC Fight Night 117, check out 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.
Filed under: Featured, News, UFC