UFC 225, which took place Saturday at United Center in Chicago, marked the UFC’s most significant card of 2018 thus far. The results certainly had an impact on the record books.
Robert Whittaker (20-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) won’t be credited with a middleweight title defense, but he managed to outpoint Yoel Romero (13-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) via split decision in the non-title headliner.
Prior to that, Colby Covington (14-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) became the third fighter in UFC welterweight history to claim an interim belt when he beat Rafael dos Anjos (28-10 MMA, 17-8 UFC) by unanimous decision.
For more on the numbers behind the organization’s sixth pay-per-view event of the year, check below for 65 post-event facts to come out of UFC 225.
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General
UFC 225 featured four split decisions, the third most on a single fight card in UFC history behind UFC 222 and UFC Fight Night 79, which each featured five.
The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payout for the event totaled $303,000.
Curtis Blaydes and Charles Oliveira earned $50,000 UFC 225 fight-night bonuses. Whittaker received $100,000 because Romero missed weight and was ineligible for bonuses.
The lone debuting fighter on the card lost.
UFC 225 drew an announced attendance of 18,117 for a live gate of $2,550,000.
Betting favorites went 10-2. One fight had even odds.
Total fight time for the 13-bout card was 2:45:50.
Main card
Whittaker improved to 8-0 since he moved up to the UFC middleweight division in November 2014.
Whittaker’s eight-fight UFC winning streak in middleweight competition is the longest active streak in the division.
Whittaker’s nine-fight UFC winning streak is tied for the sixth longest active streak in the company behind Demetrious Johnson (13), Georges St-Pierre (13), Max Holloway (12), Khabib Nurmagomedov (10) and Tony Ferguson (10).
Whittaker has earned $300,000 in fight-night bonus money over his past four fights.
Whittaker and Romero combined for 239 significant strikes landed, the single-fight record for a five-fight UFC middleweight fight.
Romero has suffered both of his UFC losses by decision.
Covington became the third interim UFC welterweight champion in company history, joining St-Pierre and Carlos Condit.
Covington’s six-fight UFC winning streak in welterweight competition is tied with Santiago Ponzinibbio for the second longest active streak in the division behind Kamaru Usman (eight).
Covington has landed 48 takedowns combined in his 10 UFC appearances.
Covington’s 48 takedowns landed in UFC welterweight competition are most among active fighters in the weight class.
Covington was out-landed in strikes for the first time in his UFC career.
Dos Anjos fell to 3-1 since he moved up to the UFC welterweight division in June 2017.
Dos Anjos has suffered five of his eight UFC losses by decision.
Holly Holm (12-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) improved to 1-2 in UFC women’s featherweight competition.
Holm has earned three of her five UFC victories by decision.
Megan Anderson (8-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffered her first decision loss since her MMA debut on Nov. 16, 2013 – a span of 1,666 days (more than four years) and 10 fights.
Tai Tuivasa’s (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) three-fight UFC winning streak in heavyweight competition is tied for the fourth longest active streak in the division behind champ Stipe Miocic (six), Alexander Volkov (four) and Blaydes (four).
Tuivasa earned the first decision victory of his career.
Andrei Arlovski (27-16 MMA, 16-10 UFC) fell to 6-6 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in June 2014.
Arlovski’s total fight time of 3:33:13 in UFC heavyweight competition is the most in divisional history.
Mike Jackson (1-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) earned the first victory and decision win of his career.
Phil “CM Punk” Brooks (0-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) suffered the first decision loss of his career.
Preliminary card
Blaydes’ four-fight UFC winning streak in heavyweight competition is tied with Volkov for the second longest active streak in the division behind Miocic (six).
Blaydes has earned eight of his 10 career victories by stoppage.
Blaydes’ 33 takedowns landed in UFC heavyweight competition are second most in divisional history behind Cain Velasquez (34).
Alistair Overeem (43-17 MMA, 8-6 UFC) fell to 7-3 in his past 10 UFC appearances dating back to December 2014.
Overeem’s 12 knockout losses in MMA competition are the most of any active member on the UFC roster.
Overeem’s 11 knockout losses in UFC/WEC/PRIDE/Strikeforce competition are the most in combined organizational history.
Claudia Gadelha (16-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) has earned four of her five UFC victories by decision.
Carla Esparza (13-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) fell to 3-2 since losing the UFC strawweight title to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in March 2015.
Esparza has completed at least one takedown against all seven of her UFC opponents.
Ricardo Lamas (18-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC) fell to 9-5 since he dropped to the UFC featherweight division in June 2011.
Chris De La Rocha (5-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has earned all five of his career victories by stoppage.
Rashad Coulter (8-4 MMA, 0-3 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since January 2017.
Coulter has suffered all four of his career losses by stoppage.
Anthony Smith (28-14 MMA, 5-3 UFC) was successful in his light-heavyweight debut.
Smith is 6-1 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in February 2016.
Smith improved to 12-3 since he was released from the UFC in June 2013.
Smith has earned 26 of his 29 career victories by stoppage. That includes four of his five UFC wins.
Rashad Evans (19-8-1 MMA, 14-8-1 UFC) suffered his fifth consecutive loss to extend the longest skid of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since November 2013.
Evans was unsuccessful in his return to the UFC light-heavyweight division.
Evans has suffered both of his career stoppage losses by knockout.
Evans’ total fight time of 4:03:36 in UFC light-heavyweight competition is second most in divisional history behind Jon Jones (4:13:13).
Sergio Pettis (17-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) improved to 5-2 since he dropped to the UFC flyweight division in March 2015.
Pettis has earned all eight of his UFC victories by decision.
Joseph Benavidez (25-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC) suffered his first non-title flyweight loss. His only defeats at the weight class came in championship bouts with Johnson.
Benavidez has suffered four of his five career losses by decision.
Oliveira (23-8 MMA, 11-8 UFC) improved to 2-1 since he returned to the UFC lightweight division April 2017. He’s 4-4 in the organization at 155 pounds.
Oliveira has earned 10 of his 11 UFC victories by submission.
Oliveira’s 10 submission victories in UFC competition are tied with Royce Gracie for most in company history.
Oliveira’s four guillotine-choke victories in UFC competition are tied with Nate Diaz for most in company history.
Oliveira earned the 11th fight-night bonuses of his UFC career. He is the first fighter in UFC history to earn five or more bonuses in two separate divisions.
Clay Guida (34-18 MMA, 14-12 UFC) fell to 2-1 since he returned to the UFC lightweight division in June 2017.
Guida fell to 2-3 in his past five UFC appearances.
Guida has attempted 173 takedowns during his UFC career, third most in company history behind Demian Maia (238) and Frankie Edgar (198).
Mike Santiago’s (19-12 MMA, 0-3 UFC) three-fight losing skid is tied for the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since August.
Santiago’s suffered his first knockout loss since Aug. 14, 2010 – a span of 2,856 days (nearly eight years) and 28 fights.
Santiago has suffered 10 of his 12 career losses by stoppage.
For complete coverage of UFC 225, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
FightMetric research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.