Curtis
Blaydes
and
Chris
Daukaus find themselves caught up in the logjam that has formed
behind reigning
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder
Francis
Ngannou.
The two Top 10 contenders will lock horns in the
UFC on ESPN 33 headliner this Saturday at Nationwide Arena in
Columbus, Ohio, where they hope to improve their stature in a
weight class riddled with uncertainty. Blaydes has rattled off five
wins across his past six outings. The
Elevation Fight Team star last competed on Sept. 25, when he
laid claim to a unanimous decision over
Jairzinho
Rozenstruik at UFC 266. Daukaus, meanwhile, has posted a 4-1
record since he linked arms with the UFC a little less than two
years ago. He last appeared at UFC Fight Night 199, where he
succumbed to punches from
Derrick
Lewis in the first round of their Dec. 18 main event.
As Blaydes and Daukaus make final preparations ahead of their
forthcoming battle, a look at some of the numbers that have
accompanied them to this point:
31: Years of age for Blaydes, who was born in Naperville, Illinois,
on Feb. 18, 1991.
10: Blaydes victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting
for 67% of his career total (15). His list of UFC victims:
Junior dos
Santos,
Shamil
Abdurakhimov,
Alistair
Overeem,
Alexey
Oleynik and
Cody East.
Blaydes holds five other victories by decision.
62: Takedowns landed by Blaydes since he joined the UFC roster in
2016, putting him 10th on the organization’s all-time list. He
trails only
Georges St.
Pierre (90),
Gleison
Tibau (84),
Demetrious
Johnson (74),
Frankie
Edgar (73),
Clay Guida
(72),
Nik
Lentz (69),
Demian Maia
(68),
Colby
Covington (67) and
Merab
Dvalishvili (63).
8: Consecutive calendar years in which Blaydes has fought at least
once. He went 3-0 in 2014, 1-0 in 2015, 2-1 in 2016, 2-0 with one
no contest in 2017, 2-1 in 2018, 2-0 in 2019, 2-0 in 2020 and 1-1
in 2021.
.782: Cumulative winning percentage between the two men—Lewis and
Francis
Ngannou (twice)—who have beaten Blaydes. They boast a combined
record of 43-12.
32: Years of age for Daukaus, who was born on Sept. 25, 1989 in
Philadelphia.
11: Daukaus wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for
92% of his career total (12). His list of UFC victims:
Abdurakhimov, Oleynik,
Rodrigo
Nascimento and
Parker
Porter. Daukaus owns one other win by decision.
5.26: Daukaus knockdowns per 15 minutes of UFC competition, placing
him first on the promotion’s heavyweight list. He ranks ahead of
Todd
Duffee (2.91),
Tom
Aspinall (2.04),
Shane
Carwin (2.03) and
Pat Barry
(1.74).
6: Companies for which Daukaus has plied his mixed martial arts
trade. He has gone 4-2 in
Cage Fury Fighting Championships, 4-1 in the UFC, 1-1 in Xtreme
Fight Events, 1-0 in
King of
the Cage, 1-0 in
CES MMA and 1-0 in
Ring of
Combat.
49: Combined victories between the four men—Lewis,
Azunna
Anyanwu,
Shawn Teed
and
Yordany
Hernandez Figueroa—who have defeated Daukaus. They sport a
cumulative .710 winning percentage (49-19-1).