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UFC Fight Night 188 pre-event facts: Who will land first in Rob Font vs. Cody Garbrandt?

mike
·4 min read

The UFC’s final event in a busy May stretch goes down Saturday with UFC Fight Night 188, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams entirely on ESPN+.

A high-stakes bantamweight clash headlines the card. Ranked contenders Rob Font (18-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and Cody Garbrandt (12-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) will meet in a bout scheduled for five rounds that will determine which man takes the next step toward a title shot at 135 pounds.

For more on the numbers behind the main event, as well as the rest of the card, check below for 30 pre-event facts about UFC Fight Night 188.

Rob Font vs. Cody Garbrandt

Rob Font

Font has earned six of his eight UFC victories by stoppage. He’s finished five of those wins by knockout. Font's five knockout victories in UFC bantamweight competition are tied with Eddie Wineland for second most in divisional history behind T.J. Dillashaw (seven).

Cody Garbrandt

Garbrandt's four knockout victories in UFC bantamweight competition are tied for third most in divisional history behind Dillashaw (seven), Font (five) and Wineland (five). Garbrandt's nine knockdowns landed in UFC bantamweight competition are tied with Dillashaw and Petr Yan for most in divisional history.

Yan Xiaonan vs. Carla Esparza

Yan Xiaonan

[autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag] (13-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) is 10-0 (with one no contest) since returning from a nearly five-year layoff in July 2015. Xiaonan's six-fight UFC winning streak at strawweight is the longest active streak in the division. Xiaonan has earned all six of her UFC victories by decision. Xiaonan landed 150 significant strikes against Syuri Kondo at UFC Fight Night 141, the single-fight record for a three-round UFC strawweight fight.

Carla Esparza

[autotag]Carla Esparza[/autotag] (17-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) was the first UFC strawweight champion. She lost the belt to Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 185 in March 2015. Esparza is 7-3 since losing the UFC strawweight title Jedrzejczyk in March 2015. Esparza competes in her 13th UFC strawweight bout, tied for the third most appearances in divisional history behind Angela Hill (17) and Randa Markos (17). Esparza’s eight victories in UFC strawweight competition are tied for second most in divisional history behind Jedrzejczyk (10). Esparza’s four-fight UFC winning streak at strawweight is tied for the third longest active streak in the division behind Xiaonan (six) and Tatiana Suarez (five). Esparza has earned seven of her eight UFC victories by decision. Esparza has completed at least one takedown against 11 of her 12 UFC opponents. Esparza's 39 takedowns landed in UFC strawweight competition are most in divisional history.

Felicia Spencer vs. Norma Dumont

Felicia Spencer

[autotag]Felicia Spencer[/autotag] (8-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) competes in her fifth UFC women's featherweight bout, tied with Cris Cyborg for the second most appearances in divisional history behind Megan Anderson (six). Spencer's two stoppage victories in UFC women's featherweight competition are tied for second most in divisional history behind Anderson (three).

Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan

Jack Hermansson

[autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag] (21-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) has earned 17 of his 21 career victories by stoppage. That includes five of his eight UFC wins. Hermansson and Marvin Vettori combined for 286 significant strikes landed at UFC on ESPN 19, the record for a UFC middleweight fight. [autotag]Edmen Shahbazyan[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) has earned 10 of his 11 career victories by stoppage. That includes three of his four UFC wins.

Bill Algeo vs. Ricardo Ramos

Ricardo Ramos

[autotag]Ricardo Ramos[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) is 1-1 since he moved up to the featherweight division in November. Ramos is one of three fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a spinning back elbow. He accomplished the feat at UFC 217. Dong Hyun Kim has and Jiri Prochazka have also won with the technique.

Ben Rothwell vs. Chris Barnett

Ben Rothwell

[autotag]Ben Rothwell[/autotag] (38-13 MMA, 8-7 UFC) is 2-4 in his past six fights dating back to April 2016. Rothwell is 2-3 since he returned to competition in March 2019 after a nearly three-year layoff. Rothwell has earned 34 of his 38 career victories by stoppage. That includes four of his UFC wins.

Claudio Silva vs. Court McGee

Court McGee

[autotag]Court McGee[/autotag] (19-10 MMA, 8-9 UFC) is 5-7 since he dropped to the welterweight division in February 2013. McGee is 1-5 in his past six fights dating back to January 2017.

Yancy Medeiros vs. Damir Hadzovic

Yancy Medeiros

[autotag]Yancy Medeiros[/autotag]' (15-7 MMA, 6-7 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn't earned a victory since December 2017. Medeiros is 0-2 since he returned to the UFC lightweight division in January 2019. He’s 3-6 (with one no contest) in the weight class overall. Medeiros vs. Alex Oliveira at UFC 218 is the only fight in UFC history to feature two knockdowns for each fighter. UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.

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