After multiple weeks outside of its home base, the octagon returns to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday with UFC on ESPN 61, which airs entirely on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
A rematch between ranked heavyweights is featured in the main event. [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag] (25-8 MMA, 12-7 UFC) will run it back with [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] (16-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) after scoring a unanimous decision win in their first meeting in February 2020.
For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC on ESPN 61.
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Marcin Tybura vs. Serghei Spivac
Marcin Tybura
Tybura competes in his fourth UFC headliner. He’s 1-2 in previous main events.
Tybura becomes the eighth heavyweight in history to make 20 or more UFC appearances.
Tybura’s seven decision victories in UFC heavyweight competition are second-most in divisional history behind Andre Arlovski (12).
Tybura defends 79.4 percent of opponent takedown attempts in UFC heavyweight competition, the best rate among active fighters in the weight class.
Serghei Spivac
Spivac has earned 14 of his 16 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished 10 of those wins in Round 1.
Spivac complete 64.3 percent of his takedown attempts in UFC heavyweight competition, the best rate in divisional history.
Spivac’s 27 takedowns landed in UFC heavyweight competition are third-most in divisional history behind Curtis Blaydes (62) and Cain Velasquez (34).
Chris Gutierrez vs. Quang Le
[autotag]Chris Gutierrez[/autotag] (20-6-2 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) is one of 10 fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a spinning backfist. He accomplished the feat at UFC on ESPN 33.
Gutierrez is the only fighter in UFC history to earn knockouts by knee, spinning backfist and leg kicks.
Gutierrez lands 58 percent of his significant strike attempts in UFC bantamweight competition, the fourth-best rate in divisional history behind Umar Nurmagomedov (63.1 percent), Sean O’Malley (62 percent) and Jack Shore (58.4 percent).
Damon Jackson vs. Chepe Mariscal
[autotag]Damon Jackson[/autotag] (23-6-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC) is 6-3 since he returned to the UFC for a second stint in September 2020.
Jackson is the only fighter in UFC history to have a record of 1-1-1 with one no contest in his first four octagon appearances.
Yana Santos vs. Chelsea Chandler
[autotag]Yana Santos[/autotag]’ (14-8 MMA, 4-5 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of her career. She hasn’t earned a victory since February 2021.
Santos out-landed her opponent 215-to-35 in total strikes at UFC Fight Night 185. The +180 margin is the largest in UFC women’s bantamweight history.
Karol Rosa vs. Pannie Kianzad
[autotag]Karol Rosa[/autotag] (17-6 MMA, 6-3 UFC) and Irene Aldana combined for 349 significant strikes landed at UFC 296, the single-fight record for a UFC women’s bantamweight fight.
Rosa has earned all six of her UFC victories by decision.
Rosa lands 57 percent of her significant strike attempts in UFC women’s bantamweight competition, the second-best rate in divisional history behind Mayra Bueno Silva (64.8 percent).
Rosa lands 7.21 significant strikes per minute in UFC women’s bantamweight competition, the second-highest rate in divisional history behind Leslie Smith (7.69).
[autotag]Pannie Kianzad[/autotag] (16-8 MMA, 5-5 UFC) has earned 12 of her 15 career victories by decision. That includes all five of her UFC wins.
Jhonata Diniz vs. Karl Williams
[autotag]Karl Williams[/autotag]’ (10-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) three-fight UFC winning streak at heavyweight is tied for the third-longest active streak in the division behind Alexandr Volkov (four) and Mick Parkin (four).
Williams has earned all three of his UFC victories by decision.
Youssef Zalal vs. Jarno Errens
[autotag]Youssef Zalal[/autotag] (14-5-1 MMA, 4-3-1 UFC) absorbs just 1.72 significant strikes per minute in UFC featherweight competition, the fourth-best rate in divisional history behind Rani Yahya (1.05), Pat Sabatini (1.54) and Bryce Mitchell (1.63).
Zalal defends 66.3 percent of all opponent significant strike attempts in UFC featherweight competition, the best rate among active fighters in the weight class.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 61.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC on ESPN 61 pre-event facts: Serghei Spivac brings best takedown accuracy in heavyweight history
