r/MMA • u/ufcalendar • 13m ago
Spoiler 🍆 Kevin Holland has been hit in the nuts more than any UFC fighter since 2018 (8). I did a full breakdown of every foul since the UFC started logging them Spoiler
Since December 2018 (UFC 231), the UFC's in-fight tracking logs a reason every time the ref pauses a fight. I went through all of it: 4,499 bouts, 1,207 foul stoppages. 600 low blows, 341 eye pokes, 266 other fouls the log doesn't name (illegal knees, fence grabs, headbutts).
Kevin Holland's groin
8 low blows taken, the most in the UFC since 2018. Zero eye pokes.
From 5 different guys: Buckley (2), Darren Stewart, Wonderboy, Malott (2), and now Medic (2).
Medic's second one cost him a point and turned the fight into a majority draw. Holland took 5 minutes 3 seconds to recover.
Belal's eyes
7 eye pokes taken, zero low blows. Lyman Good, Dhiego Lima, Leon Edwards (2, ended their first fight) and Ian Machado Garry (2).
Who fouls the most
Flyweight Bruno Silva (not the middleweight): 9 fouls in 11 fights, 8 of them low blows.
Most eye pokes thrown: Adesanya and Randy Brown, 5 each. 6 of Izzy's 7 fouls came in title fights.
JunYong Park has been fouled 10 times by 7 different opponents. He won 6 of those 7 fights.
Eye pokes end fights, low blows don't
Low blows happen almost twice as often.
But 11 fights ended as no contests from eye pokes, 5 from low blows. That's 1 in 31 eye pokes vs 1 in 120 low blows.
Aspinall vs Gane at UFC 321 is the biggest one.
Fouling pays
Only 1 in 17 foul stoppages costs a point (in fights that went to the judges).
The fighter who fouls wins 55% of the time.
Wellington Turman lost 2 points for eye pokes vs Sam Alvey and still won a split decision.
Refs
Mark Smith pauses for fouls more than any regular UFC ref (36.6 per 100 fights) and took a point for only 4 of 100. But he's worked 4 of the 11 DQs, including Yan vs Sterling.
Kevin MacDonald: 10.8 per 100. Same rulebook.
Divisions
Middleweight is the foul capital: 40 stoppages per 100 fights.
Women's divisions: 11.7 per 100, vs 29.8 for the men.
Full breakdown with every table (dirtiest fights, all refs, year by year): https://www.ufcalendar.com/blog/ufc-fouls-eye-pokes-low-blows-who-fouls-most
