Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out the complete list of fighter walkout songs from Saturday’s UFC 247 event.
While it takes intense training, world-class skills and maybe even a bit of luck to register a UFC win, picking the right song to accompany you to the cage is a key talent, as well.
Inside, see what the fighters from UFC 247 went with as their backing tracks in Houston.
Youssef Zalal spoke with the media following his win at UFC 247 in Houston.
Youssef Zalal spoke with the media following his win at UFC 247 in Houston.
The best facts and figures about UFC 247, which features a Jon Jones vs. Dominick Reyes title-fight main event.
UFC action resumes Saturday with UFC 247, which takes place at Toyota Center in Houston with a main card that airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
A championship doubleheader sits atop the card. In the main event, [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] (25-1 MMA, 19-1 UFC) puts his light heavyweight title on the line against [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag] (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC). The co-headliner sees women’s flyweight champ [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] (18-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) meet [autotag]Katlyn Chookagian[/autotag] (13-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC).
For more on the numbers behind those title fights, as well as the rest of the 12-bout lineup, check below for 50 pre-event facts about UFC 247.
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Jones owns or is on the verge of owning numerous key UFC records. Check out his complete stat sheet to see where he stands in company history.
Reyes’ six-fight UFC winning streak at light heavyweight is the longest active streak in the division.
Reyes has earned nine of his 12 career victories by first-round stoppage.
Reyes lands 5.03 significant strikes per minute in UFC light heavyweight competition, the third rate among active fighters in the weight class behind Ion Cutelaba (5.27) and Aleksander Rakic (5.17).
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Reyes outlands his opponents by a +2.79 margin in significant strikes per minute, the second best rate in divisional history behind Alessio Sakara (3.24).
Reyes’ 29-second knockout of Joachim Christensen are UFC Fight Night 112 marked the second fastest stoppage by any debuting light-heavyweight in UFC history behind Ryan Jimmo’s seven-second win at UFC 149.
Reyes defends 84 percent of all opponent takedown attempts in UFC light heavyweight competition, the second highest rate among active fighters in the weight class behind Jones (95 percent).
Shevchenko is one of two women’s flyweight champions in UFC history. Nicco Montano also accomplished the feat.
Shevchenko’s two consecutive UFC women’s flyweight title defenses are most in divisional history.
Shevchenko is one of seven fighters in history to end a UFC title fight with a knockout stemming from a head kick. She accomplished the feat at UFC 238. Amanda Nunes, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Renan Barao, Holly Holm and T.J. Dillashaw are the others.
Shevchenko is 4-0 since she dropped to the UFC flyweight division in February 2018.
Shevchenko’s four-fight UFC winning streak at women’s flyweight is the longest active streak in the division.
Shevchenko’s four victories in UFC women’s flyweight competition are tied with four others for most in divisional history.
Shevchenko has completed at least one takedown against eight of her nine UFC opponents.
Shevchenko and Liz Carmouche combined for 60 significant strikes landed at UFC on ESPN+ 14, the third fewest in a modern-era UFC title fight that went all five rounds. Only Sean Sherk vs. Hermes Franca (41) and Demetrious Johnson vs. Tim Elliott (52) had less.
Shevchenko outlanded Priscila Cachoeira 230-3 in total strikes at UFC Fight Night 125, the largest disparity in UFC women’s history.
Shevchenko’s two fight-night bonuses for UFC women’s flyweight bouts are most in divisional history.
Shevchenko has suffered both of her UFC losses to women’s bantamweight and featherweight champ Nunes.
Chookagian competes in her sixth UFC women’s flyweight bout, tied with Gillian Robertson and Roxanne Modafferi for most appearances in divisional history.
Chookagian is to 4-1 since she dropped to the UFC flyweight division in January 2018.
Chookagian’s four victories in UFC women’s flyweight competition are tied with Valentina Shevchenko, Joanne Calderwood and Gillian Robertson for most in divisional history.
Chookagian has earned 10 of her 13 career victories by decision. That includes all six of her UFC wins.
Chookagian defends 63.6 percent of all opponent significant strike attempts in UFC women’s flyweight competition, the best rate in divisional history.
[autotag]Juan Adams[/autotag] (5-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has suffered consecutive losses after starting his career on a five-fight winning streak.
[autotag]Mirsad Bektic[/autotag] (13-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) absorbs 1.70 significant strikes per minute in UFC featherweight competition, the second-best rate in divisional history behind Rani Yahya (1.05).
Bektic completes 53.1 of his takedown attempts in UFC featherweight competition, the third highest rate among active fighters in the weight class behind Zubaira Tukhugov (57.5 percent) and Zabit Magomedsharipov (56.3 percent).
Bektic has completed at least two takedowns against five of his seven UFC opponents.
[autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag]’s (12-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) four-fight UFC winning streak in featherweight competition is tied for the fourth longest active streak behind Arnold Allen (seven), Zabit Magomedsharipov (six) and Alexander Volkanovski (six).
Ige lands 50.6 of his significant strike attempts in UFC featherweight competition, the third best rate among active fighters in the weight class behind Volkanovski (56.3 percent) and Dooho Choi (51.2 percent).
[autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag] (22-7 MMA, 13-5 UFC) makes his 19th UFC heavyweight appearance since 2014, the most in the division and second most fights on the roster behind Donald Cerrone (23).
Lewis’ 13 victories in UFC heavyweight competition are tied for fourth most in divisional history behind Andrei Arlovski (17), Frank Mir (16) and Junior Dos Santos (15).
Lewis’ 10 stoppage victories in UFC heavyweight competition are tied for fifth most in divisional history behind Mir (13), Arlovski (11), Gabriel Gonzaga (11) and Stefan Struve (11).
Lewis’ 10 knockout victories in UFC heavyweight competition are tied with Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez for most in divisional history.
Lewis’ 10 knockout victories in UFC competition since 2014 are second most among active fighters in the organization behind Thiago Santos (11).
Lewis’ six knockouts stemming from ground strikes in UFC competition are tied with Randy Couture for second most in company history behind Velasquez (eight).
Lewis is the only fighter in history to have his first eight UFC fights end in a knockout.
Lewis’ knockout of Alexander Volkov at UFC 229 despite a -82 significant strike differential marked the greatest statistical striking comeback in UFC history.
Lewis and Francis Ngannou combined for 31 total strikes landed at UFC 226, the second fewest in a three-round UFC fight that went the distance behind Jens Pulver vs. Joao Roque (23) at UFC 26 in June 2000.
[autotag]Ilir Latifi[/autotag] (14-7 MMA, 7-5 UFC) moves up to the UFC heavyweight division after spending his first 12 promotional appearances at light heavyweight. His 12 light heavyweight bouts are the most for any fighter in UFC history
Latifi enters the event on the first losing skid of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since February 2018.
Latifi is one of four light heavyweights in UFC history to earn two stoppage victories in less than one minute each. Volkan Oezdemir, Johnny Walker and Anthony Johnson also accomplished the feat.
Latifi’s fight vs. Cyrille Diabate at UFC Fight Night 37 marked the first fight in UFC history to feature zero combined significant strike attempts.
[autotag]Trevin Giles[/autotag] (11-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has suffered consecutive losses after starting his career 11-0.
Giles is 1-2 since he dropped to the UFC middleweight division in December 2017.
[autotag]Lauren Murphy[/autotag] (11-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC), 36, is the oldest of the 24 fighters scheduled to compete at the event. Lauren Murphy is a single day older.
Murphy has alternated wins and losses over her past seven fights. She was victorious in her most recent bout at UFC on ESPN 5 in August.
Murphy is 2-1 since she dropped to the UFC flyweight division in December 2017.
Murphy is one of five female fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a knee strike. She accomplished the feat at UFC on ESPN 5.
[autotag]Youssef Zalal[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC), 23, is the youngest of the 24 fighters scheduled to compete at the event.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
Youssef Zalal wasn’t allowed much time for excitement ahead of his UFC debut, seeing as it came on short notice.
[autotag]Youssef Zalal[/autotag] wasn’t allowed much time for excitement ahead of his UFC debut.
On 12 days’ notice, Zalal (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) accepted a bout against Austin Lingo at Saturday’s UFC 247. After years of dedicating his life to the specific goal of making the big leagues, Zalal couldn’t celebrate – but he’s OK with that.
“I’m pumped, but I’m saving my excitement until after the fight,” Zalal told MMA Junkie. “I’ve got to handle business first. I’m very grateful and blessed for the opportunity. This is what I’ve been working for, but it’s just another fight.”
Short notice or not, Zalal said he was ready when he received the call. The 23-year-old featherweight believes he’s in fight shape and expects he’ll be in prime form Saturday.
“We were training for five weeks straight in a row (with) recovery and strength and conditioning,” Zalal said. “We were ready to beat world champions. We were ready for a fight. Then all of a sudden my manager calls me and tells me I’m fighting in the UFC now. We stopped looking for (LFA) fights. I’m like, ‘(Expletive), yeah. Let’s do it.'”
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Since his LFA debut in 2017, many experts thought Zalal had great UFC promise. However, his signing at this exact moment came as a surprise to some, considering he’s lost two of his most recent three fights. Zalal wishes to assure that any doubt will be off the table after his performance at UFC 247.
“People are going to talk and talk and talk, ‘Oh yeah, he had two losses and then one win, blah, blah, blah,'” Zalal said. “All of those guys that talk, look at them. It makes no sense to me. For me, I’ve fought my ass off in those last two fights. Some of them, I got jacked, basically. I was robbed of some decisions, but to me it doesn’t matter. Everything happens for a reason.
“I’m here and on Saturday, Feb. 8, I get to show you who I am. I’ll show him how great I am. Like Muhammad Ali said, I don’t have to prove to people nothing. I have to prove things to myself. That’s all I have to do.”
Born in Casablanca, Zalal proudly wears his Moroccan heritage on his sleeve. His nickname is “The Moroccan Devil.” MMA hasn’t seen a ton of fighters represent Morocco on the big stage, but Zalal is thrilled to be one of the few.
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Zalal said. “I can’t wait to represent with a whole country behind me. We only have three Moroccans now officially in the UFC. I’m the youngest one. I could not be more proud and happy to represent my country and my heritage.
“It means a lot to me and it means a lot to my family. It means a lot to the people back home.”
UFC 247 takes place Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
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A late addition has been made to the UFC 247 lineup.
A late addition has been made to the UFC 247 lineup.
Two promotional newcomers taking short-notice assignments, LFA alumni [autotag]Austin Lingo[/autotag] and [autotag]Youssef Zalal[/autotag], will square off Feb 8. inside the UFC cage.
Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the booking. The people asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Lingo (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) possesses serious knockout power for a featherweight. In his most recent outing in August, the 25-year-old Fortis MMA product knocked out Hatley Solo Jr. in 25 seconds at LFA 73.
Harnessing some serious striking abilities of his own, Factory X’s Zalal (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) added a flying-knee knockout to his highlight reel at LFA 79 in November.
UFC 247 takes place Feb. 8 at Toyota Center in Houston. With two title fights atop the bill, the main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
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With the addition, the UFC 247 lineup now includes:
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One thing is for certain: Youssef Zalal turned a lot of heads on Friday night.
If one thing is certain, [autotag]Youssef Zalal[/autotag] turned a lot of heads on Friday night.
A Factory X product, Zalal (7-2 MMA) scored a memorable finish over [autotag]Jaime Hernandez[/autotag] at LFA 79 on Friday night, winning by jumping knee at the 2:15 mark of the first round.
Midway through the opening round, Zalal leaped forward and connected a switch knee square on the chin of Hernandez (4-4 MMA). Before he even hit the canvas, Hernandez was out cold.
Check out the replay of Youssef Zalal’s knockout of Jaime Hernandez in the video below:
There is no playing around here at #LFA79!!! Flying knee puts an end to this one! pic.twitter.com/16xkkq2hO1
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) November 23, 2019
If that’s not enough for you violence-seekers, check out the slow motion replay while you’re at it:
Let's watch this one in slow-mo too! #LFA79 pic.twitter.com/XNAqIR3ZNR
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) November 23, 2019
Zalal’s victory snapped a two-fight losing streak. All seven of his professional wins have come inside the distance, with five submissions and two knockouts.
Hernandez’s loss is his third in four fights. Zalal joins UFC bantamweight Hunter Azure, DWCS veteran Rico DiSciullo, and journeyman James DeHerrera as the four men to defeat Hernandez.
LFA 79 took place Friday night at 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colo. The main card streamed on UFC Fight Pass.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
