UFC 262 pre-event facts: Charles Oliveira can make history with title win
The UFC’s sixth pay-per-view of the year takes place Saturday with UFC 262 at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
A new lightweight champion will be crowned in the main event when Charles Oliveira (30-8 MMA, 18-8 UFC) and Michael Chandler (22-5 MMA, 1-0 UFC) clash for the vacant strap after Khabib Nurmagomedov retired from MMA competition.
It’s a big night for one of the most important divisions in the sport, and for more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the lineup, check below for 55 pre-event facts about UFC 262.
Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler
Charles Oliveira
Oliveira fights for the title for the first time in his 28th UFC bout, the most appearances in company history. Oliveira is 9-1 since he returned to the UFC lightweight division April 2017. He’s 11-3 (with one no contest) in the organization at 155 pounds. Oliveira's eight-fight UFC winning streak at lightweight is the longest active streak in the division. Oliveira's 16 stoppage victories in UFC competition are tied with Donald Cerrone for most in company history. Oliveira's 14 submission victories in UFC competition are most in company history. Oliveira's eight submission victories in UFC lightweight competition are second most in divisional history behind Jim Miller (nine). Oliveira's six submission victories in UFC featherweight competition are the most in divisional history. Oliveira's five guillotine-choke submission victories in UFC competition are most in company history. Oliveira's three anaconda choke submission victories in UFC competition are most in company 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 one of two fighters in UFC history to earn a calf-slicer submission victory. Brett Johns also accomplished the feat. Oliveira has been awarded 16 fight-night bonuses for UFC bouts, the second most in company history behind Cerrone (18). Oliveira has been awarded 10 "Performance of the Night" bonuses, the most in company history. Oliveira is the only fighter in UFC history to be awarded five or more fight-night bonuses in two separate divisions.
Michael Chandler
Chandler can become the third fighter in history to win titles in Bellator and UFC. Eddie Alvarez and Cris Cyborg are the other two. Chandler's 18 victories in Bellator competition are second most in company history behind Patricio Freire (20). Chandler's 15 victories in Bellator lightweight competition are most in divisional history. Chandler's 13 stoppage victories in Bellator competition are tied with Freire for most in company history. Chandler's 10 stoppage victories in Bellator lightweight competition are most in divisional history. Chandler's 11 appearances in Bellator title fights are second most in company history behind Freire (12). Chandler is one of three fighters in Bellator/UFC/WEC/PRIDE/Strikeforce history with three title reigns in a single weight class. Randy Couture and Douglas Lima also accomplished the feat. Chandler's six victories in Bellator championship fights are second most in company history behind Freire (10). Chandler's five losses in Bellator title fights are the most in company history.
Tony Ferguson vs. Beneil Dariush
Tony Ferguson
[autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag] (25-5 MMA, 15-3 UFC) enters the event on the first two-fight losing kid of his career. He hasn't earned a victory since June 2019. Ferguson has earned 21 of his 25 career victories by stoppage. That includes 11 of his 15 UFC wins. Ferguson's 10 stoppage victories in UFC lightweight competition are tied for third most in divisional history behind Joe Lauzon (13) and Miller (12). Ferguson's three D'Arce-choke victories in UFC competition are the most in company history. Ferguson is one of two fighters in UFC history to win a title fight by triangle choke. He did so against Kevin Lee at UFC 216. Anderson Silva also accomplished the feat against Chael Sonnen at UFC 117.
Beneil Dariush
[autotag]Beneil Dariush[/autotag]'s (20-4-1 MMA, 14-4-1 UFC) six-fight UFC winning streak at lightweight is the third longest active streak in the division behind Oliveira (eight) and Islam Makhachev (seven). Dariush has earned 14 UFC lightweight victories since 2014 are most in the division. Dariush is one of eight fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a spinning backfist. He accomplished the feat at UFC Fight Night 174.
Matt Schnell vs. Rogerio Bontorin
Matt Schnell
[autotag]Matt Schnell[/autotag]'s (14-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) victory at 1:23 of Round 1 over Jordon Espinosa at UFC on ESPN 5 is second fastest submission in UFC flyweight history behind Ben Nguyen’s 49-second win at UFC Fight Night 110. Schnell earned the first triangle choke submission in UFC flyweight history at UFC on ESPN 5. Schnell's two submission victories by triangle choke in UFC competition are tied for second most in company history behind Paul Craig (three).
Katlyn Chookagian vs. Viviane Araujo
Katlyn Chookagian
[autotag]Katlyn Chookagian[/autotag] (15-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) competes in her 10th UFC women’s flyweight bout, tied with Gillian Robertson for the most appearances in divisional history. Chookagian is 6-3 since she dropped to the UFC flyweight division in January 2018. Chookagian's six victories in UFC women’s flyweight competition are tied with Robertson for second most in divisional history behind Valentina Shevchenko (seven). Chookagian has earned 12 of her 15 career victories by decision. That includes all eight of her UFC wins.
Shane Burgos vs. Edson Barboza
Shane Burgos
[autotag]Shane Burgos[/autotag] (13-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) defends 89.3 percent of all opponent takedown attempts in UFC featherweight competition, the second best rate in divisional history behind Jose Aldo (91 percent). Burgos lands 7.31 significant strikes per minute in UFC featherweight competition, the highest rate in divisional history.
Edson Barboza
[autotag]Edson Barboza[/autotag] (21-9 MMA, 15-9 UFC) is 1-1 since he dropped to the featherweight division in May 2020. Barboza is 2-5 in his past seven fights dating back to December 2017. Barboza's seven knockout victories in UFC lightweight competition are tied with Dustin Poirier and Melvin Guillard for most in divisional history. Barboza's 10 knockdowns landed in UFC lightweight competition are third most in divisional history behind Guillard (13) and Cerrone (11). Barboza is the only fighter in UFC history with knockout finishes stemming from a head kick, body punch, body kick, leg kicks and flying knee. Barboza's five knockout victories stemming from kicks and knees in UFC competition are the second most in company history behind Cerrone (seven). Barboza is the only fighter in UFC history to earn two knockout victories stemming from leg kicks. He used them to stop Rafaello Oliveira at UFC 162 and Mike Lullo at UFC 123.
Ronaldo Souza vs. Andre Muniz
Ronaldo Souza
[autotag]Ronaldo Souza[/autotag]'s (26-9 MMA, 9-6 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since November 2018. Souza has earned 22 of his 26 career victories by stoppage. That includes seven of his nine UFC wins. Souza's 14 victories in UFC/Strikeforce middleweight competition are tied for third most in combined divisional history behind Michael Bisping (16) and Luke Rockhold (15). Souza's 12 stoppage victories in UFC/Strikeforce middleweight competition are second most in combined divisional history behind Rockhold (13).
Lando Vannata vs. Mike Grundy
Lando Vannata
[autotag]Lando Vannata[/autotag] (11-5-2 MMA, 3-5-2 UFC) drops to the featherweight division after spending his previous 10 octagon appearances at lightweight. Vannata's two draws in men’s UFC competition are tied with Ken Shamrock, B.J. Penn and Caol Uno for most in company history.
Gina Mazany vs. Priscila Cachoeira
Gina Mazany
[autotag]Gina Mazany[/autotag] (7-4 MMA, 2-4 UFC) was successful in her women's flyweight debut at UFC on ESPN 18 in November. Mazany is one of three fighters in women's UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a body kick. She accomplished the feat at UFC on ESPN 18. Joanne Calderwood and Poliana Botelho have also won with the technique. [autotag]Priscila Cachoeira[/autotag]'s (9-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) 40-second knockout at UFC Fight Night 168 is the fastest stoppage in UFC women's flyweight history. UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
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