UFC 225 is the deepest event of the year thus far – so much so that the preliminary card for Saturday’s lineup, which takes place at United Center in Chicago, and airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass, is worthy of its own pre-event facts showcase.
Former UFC heavyweight title challenger Alistair Overeem (43-16 MMA, 8-5 UFC) gets the top spot on the preliminary card when he attempts to work her way toward another title shot against the streaking Curtis Blaydes (9-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC).
Check below for pre-fight facts about the UFC 225 preliminary card.
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Featured FS1 prelim
Alistair Overeem
Overeem is 7-2 in his past nine UFC appearances dating back to December 2014.
Overeem has earned 38 of his 43 career victories by stoppage. Of his 21 career knockout wins, 12 stemmed from either a kick or knee strike.
Overeem lands 73.8 percent of his significant strike attempts in UFC competition, the highest rate in company history.
Overeem has been on the losing end of the third and fourth largest statistical comeback finishes in UFC heavyweight history. He out-landed Antonio Silva by 30 significant strikes before being knocked out at UFC 156, and he out-landed Travis Browne by 27 significant strikes before his demise at UFC Fight Night 26
Overeem’s 11 knockout losses in MMA competition are the most of any active member on the UFC roster.
Overeem’s 10 knockout losses in UFC/WEC/PRIDE/Strikeforce competition are the most in combined organizational history.
Curtis Blaydes
Blaydes’ three-fight UFC winning streak in heavyweight competition is tied for the third longest active streak in the division behind champ Stipe Miocic (six) and Alexander Volkov (four).
Blaydes completes 54.7 percent of all his takedown attempts in UFC heavyweight competition, the highest rate among active fighters in the weight class.
Blaydes’ takedown rate of 7.29 per 15 minutes of fighting is highest in UFC heavyweight history.
Blaydes’ 29 takedowns landed in UFC heavyweight competition are second most in divisional history behind Cain Velasquez (34).
Blaydes’ 10 takedowns landed against Mark Hunt at UFC 221 tied the record for second most in a single UFC heavyweight fight behind Velasquez’s 11 takedowns landed at UFC 155.
Other FS1 prelims
Claudia Gadelha
Claudia Gadelha (15-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) competes in her eighth UFC strawweight bout, tied for the second most appearances in divisional history behind Joanna Jedrzejczyk (10).
Gadelha’s 27 takedowns landed in UFC strawweight competition are the most in divisional history.
Gadelha has suffered all three of her career losses by decision.
Carla Esparza
Carla Esparza (13-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) was the first UFC women’s strawweight champion. She lost the belt to Jedrzejczyk at UFC 185 in March 2015.
Esparza is 3-1 since losing the UFC strawweight title to Jedrzejczyk in March 2015.
Esparza’s two-fight UFC winning streak in strawweight competition is tied for the third longest active streak in the division behind champ Rose Namajunas (three) and Tatiana Suarez (three).
Esparza has earned three of her four UFC victories by decision.
Esparza has completed at least one takedown against all six of her UFC opponents.
Esparza’s takedown rate of 4.27 per 15 minutes of fighting is highest in UFC women’s strawweight history.
Ricardo Lamas
Ricardo Lamas (18-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is 9-4 since he dropped to the UFC featherweight division in June 2011.
Lamas’ six stoppage victories in UFC featherweight competition are tied for second most in divisional history behind champ Max Holloway (nine).
Lamas’ three submission victories in UFC featherweight competition are tied for third most in divisional history behind Charles Oliveira (six) and Chas Skelly (four).
Mirsad Bektic
Mirsad Bektic (12-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) absorbs 1.2 significant strikes per minute in UFC featherweight competition, the second-best rate in divisional history behind Rani Yahya (1.05).
Bektic completes 53.6 of his takedown attempts in UFC featherweight competition, the highest rate among active fighters in the weight class.
Rashad Coulter (8-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) enters the event on a two-fight losing skid. He hasn’t earned a victory since January 2017.
Coulter has earned all eight of his career victories by knockout.
Chris de la Rocha (4-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) returns to competition for the first time since May 29, 2016. The 741-day layoff is the longest of his nearly five-year career.
De La Rocha enters the event on a two-fight losing skid. He hasn’t earned a victory since March 2015.
Featured UFC Fight Pass prelim
Rashad Evans
Rashad Evans’ (19-7-1 MMA, 14-7-1 UFC) four-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since November 2013.
Evans returns to the light-heavyweight division for the first time since April 2016. He went 0-2 in his stint at middleweight.
Evans competes in his 20th UFC light-heavyweight bout, tied with Ryan Bader for the most appearances in divisional history.
Evans competes on the preliminary portion of a card for the first time in his 23-fight UFC tenure.
Evans’ 13 victories UFC light-heavyweight competition are tied with Chuck Liddell for third most in divisional history behind Jon Jones (16) and Ryan Bader (15).
Evans’ total fight time of 4:02:43 in UFC light-heavyweight competition is second most in divisional history behind Jones (4:13:13).
Evans’ six knockout victories in UFC light-heavyweight competition are third most in divisional history behind Liddell (nine) and Mauricio Rua (seven).
Evans’ 50 takedowns landed in UFC light-heavyweight competition are the most in divisional history.
Evans’ four split-decision victories in UFC competition are tied with John Howard and Benson Henderson for second most in company history behind Gleison Tibau (five).
Anthony Smith
Anthony Smith (27-14 MMA, 4-3 UFC) is 4-2 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in February 2015.
Smith moves up to the light heavyweight division for the first time in his career.
Smith has earned 25 of his 28 career victories by stoppage. Oppositely, he’s suffered 12 of his 13 career losses by stoppage.
Other UFC Fight Pass prelims
Joseph Benavidez
Joseph Benavidez (25-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) returns to competition for the first time since Dec. 3, 2016. The 553-day layoff is the longest of his nearly 12-year career.
Benavidez competes in his 13th UFC flyweight bout, tied with John Moraga for the second most appearances in divisional history behind champ Demetrious Johnson (13).
Benavidez’s six-fight UFC winning streak in flyweight competition is second longest active streak in the division behind Johnson (11).
Benavidez’s 10 victories in UFC flyweight competition are second most in divisional history behind Johnson (11).
Benavidez’s four stoppage victories in UFC flyweight competition are tied for third most in divisional history behind Johnson (seven) and Moraga (five).
Benavidez’s two fight-night bonuses for UFC flyweight bouts are tied for second most ind visional history behind Johnson (eight).
Sergio Pettis
Sergio Pettis (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC), along with his older brother Anthony Pettis, are one of 18 pairs of siblings to compete under the UFC banner.
Pettis is 4-2 since he dropped to the UFC flyweight division in March 2015.
Pettis has earned all seven of his UFC victories by decision.
Clay Guida (34-17 MMA, 14-11 UFC) is 2-0 since he returned to the UFC lightweight division in June.
Guida’s 63 takedowns landed in UFC competition are fifth most in company history behind Georges St-Pierre (90), Tibau (84), Johnson (73) and Frankie Edgar (67).
Guida has attempted 172 takedowns during his UFC career, third most in company history behind Demian Maia (238) and Edgar (198).
Charles Oliveira
Charles Oliveira (22-8 MMA, 10-8 UFC) is 1-1 since he returned to the UFC lightweight division in April 2017. He’s 3-4 in the organization at 155 pounds.
Oliveira’s average fight time of 5:13 in UFC lightweight competition is the second shortest in divisional history behind Manny Gamburyan (4:45).
Oliveira has earned nine of his 10 UFC victories by submission.
Oliveira’s nine submission victories in UFC competition are tied with Nate Diaz and Demian Maia for second most in company history behind Royce Gracie (10).
Oliveira’s six submission victories in UFC featherweight competition are the most in divisional history.
Oliveira is one of two fighters in UFC history to earn submission victories with six different techniques. Frank Mir also accomplished the feat.
Oliveira is the only fighter in UFC history to earn a calf-slicer submission victory. He accomplished the feat against Eric Wisely at UFC on FOX 2.
Oliveira has earned 10 fight-night bonuses in his UFC career. His six bonuses in UFC featherweight bouts are tied with Conor McGregor for most in divisional history.
For more on UFC 225, 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.