Ultimate Fighting Championship matchmakers love a potential slugfest.
Chase Sherman will lock horns with Josh Parisian in a UFC Fight Night 214 heavyweight showcase on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It carries little divisional relevance—if any—but figures to remain highly entertaining for however long it lasts. Sherman has lost four of his past five bouts and carries a 4-9 record across 13 appearances in the UFC. He last fought at UFC on ESPN 39, where he brought down Jared Vanderaa with punches in the third round of their July 9 encounter. Parisian, meanwhile, has compiled a 2-2 mark through four Octagon assignments. He last competed on June 25, when he took care of Alan Baudot with punches in the second round of their UFC on ESPN 38 pairing.
As Sherman and Parisian move ever closer to their forthcoming battle, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
32: Years of age for Sherman, who was born on Nov. 6, 1989 in D’Iberville, Mississippi.
15: Sherman wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 94% of his career total. His list of UFC victims: Vanderaa, Isaac Villanueva and Rashad Coulter. Sherman holds one other win by decision (6%), having outpointed former M-1 Global champion Damian Grabowski across three rounds at UFC on Fox 25 in 2017.
3: Sub-minute finishes on the Sherman resume. He wiped out Chris Jensen with punches in 11 seconds at Atlas Fights “Battle on Mobile Bay” on April 12, 2014, stopped Jack May due to a leg injury in 56 seconds at Titan Fighting Championship 38 on April 30, 2016 and wrecked Rashaun Jackson with punches in 59 seconds at Island Fights 56 on May 9, 2019.
4: UFC appearances in which Sherman has landed at least 100 significant strikes. He set a personal high-water mark by connecting with 137 of them against Vanderaa.
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157: Combined victories between the 10 opponents—Alexander Romanov, Jake Collier, Parker Porter, Andrei Arlovski, Augusto Sakai, Justin Willis, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Walt Harris, Justin Ledet and Alex Nicholson—who have beaten Sherman. They boast a cumulative .679 winning percentage at 157-74-1.
33: Years of age for Parisian, who was born on June 28, 1989 in Martinsburg, West Virginia.
2: Parisian victories by submission, accounting for 13% of his career total (15). His methods of choice: one triangle choke and one keylock. Parisian owns 11 other victories by knockout or technical knockout (74%) and two more by decision (13%).
91: Seconds needed for Parisian to cut down Greg Rebello with a spinning backfist during Season 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series on June 26, 2018. More than four years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
13: Organizations for which Parisian has suited up as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 3-1 in Total Warrior Combat, 2-2 in the UFC, 2-0 in DWCS, 1-0 in the Legacy Fighting Alliance, 1-0 in Warrior Xtreme Cagefighting, 1-0 in Ares Fighting Championship, 1-0 in Carlos Llinas International Productions, 1-0 in Smuggler’s Run, 1-0 in Native American Takeover, 1-0 in Caged Power, 1-0 in Dual Combat Sports, 0-1 in King of the Cage and 0-1 in Lights Out Championship.
.660: Cumulative winning percentage between the five opponents—Porter, Don’Tale Mayes, Brett Martin, Tony Lopez and Ryan Pokryfky who have defeated Parisian. They sport a combined record of 101-52.
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