Steven Ray broke Anthony Pettis once. Now he must prove he can do so again.
“Braveheart” will rematch the top-seeded Pettis when their 2022 Professional Fighters League semifinal headlines PFL 7 on Friday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Ray submitted the onetime World Extreme Cagefighting and Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder with a twister under the PFL 5 lights in June. Neither man has fought since.
As Ray and Pettis prepare for their second encounter in a matter of months, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
35: Years of age for Pettis, who was born in Milwaukee on Jan. 27, 1987.
11: Pettis wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 44% of his career total (25). His list of victims includes Stephen Thompson, Donald Cerrone, Joe Lauzon and Danny Castillo. Pettis holds eight other wins by submission (32%) and six more by decision (24%).
4: Sub-minute finishes on the Pettis resume, all under the Gladiators Cage Fighting banner. He punched out Tom Erspamer in 24 seconds at GFS “Super Brawl” on Jan. 27, 2007, earned an injury-related TKO against Lonny Amdahl in 12 seconds at GFS “Rumble in the Cage” on Aug. 17, 2007, struck Michael Skinner into submission in 36 seconds at GFS “Season’s Beatings” on Dec. 1, 2007 and cut down Gabe Walbridge with punches in 56 seconds at GFS “Season’s Beatings” on Dec. 13, 2008.
560: Days spent by Pettis as undisputed UFC lightweight champion. He struck gold when he submitted Benson Henderson with an armbar in the first round of their UFC 164 main event on Aug. 31, 2013 and made one successful title defense before surrendering it in a five-round unanimous decision loss to Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 185 on March 14, 2015. It ranks as the fourth-longest reign in the history of the division, trailing only Khabib Nurmagomedov (1,077), B.J Penn (812) and Frankie Edgar (687).
330: Combined victories between the 13 opponents—Ray, Raush Manfio, Clay Collard, Diego Ferreira, Nate Diaz, Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway, Edson Barboza, Eddie Alvarez, Rafael dos Anjos, Clay Guida and Bart Palaszewski—who have defeated Pettis. They own a cumulative .710 winning percentage (330-135).
32: Years of age for Ray, who was born on March 25, 1990 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland.
9: Ray victories by submission, accounting for 37.5% of his career total (24). His methods of choice: three rear-naked chokes, one brabo choke, one heel hook, one arm-triangle choke, one triangle armbar, one armbar and one twister. Ray owns six other victories by knockout or technical knockout (25%) and nine more by decision (37.5%).
57: Seconds needed for Ray to punch out John Quinn at On Top 3 on Sept. 24, 2011. Having occurred nearly 11 years ago, it remains his fastest finish to date.
10: Countries in which Ray has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 11-3 in his native Scotland, 6-2 in England, 2-1 in Ireland, 2-1 in the United States, 1-0 in Poland, 1-0 in Canada, 1-0 in Singapore, 0-1 in the United Arab Emirates, 0-1 in Brazil and 0-1 in Sweden.
.743: Cumulative winning percentage between the 10 opponents—Alex Martinez, Leonardo Santos, Kajan Johnson, Paul Felder, Alan Patrick, Ivan Buchinger, Curt Warburton, Assan Njie, Nicholas Musoke and Dan Hope—who have beaten Ray. They sport a combined record of 179-60-2.
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