By The Numbers: Kyler Phillips vs. Raulian Paiva
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Thrust into the spotlight by the unexpected Aspen Ladd-Macy Chiasson fight cancellation, the bantamweight prospects will meet in the UFC on ESPN 27 co-headliner this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Phillips enters the cage with the wind of a four-fight winning streak in his sails. The MMA Lab product last competed at UFC 259, where he captured a unanimous decision over Yadong Song on March 6. Paiva, meanwhile, fills in as a short-notice replacement for the injured Raphael Assuncao. He last fought on July 11, 2020, when he took a unanimous decision from Zhalgas Zhumagulov at UFC 251.
As Phillips and Paiva make their final preparations, a look at some
of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
26: Years of age for Phillips, who was born in Torrance, California, on June 12, 1995. “Congo,” “Casper,” “The Bridges of Madison County,” “Die Hard with a Vengeance” and “Braveheart” were the Top 5 movies at the domestic box office at the time.
5: Phillips victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 56% of his career total (nine). His list of victims includes Cameron Else, Emeka Ifekandu and George Garcia. Phillips owns one other victory by submission—he dispatched P.J. Ste-Marie with a calf slicer in his second professional assignment—and three more by decision.
46: Seconds needed for Phillips to bury James Gray Jr. with elbows and punches as part of the first season of Dana White’s Contender Series on Aug. 1, 2017. One of five first-round stoppage wins on his resume, it remains the fastest finish of his career.
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1: Loss on the Phillips ledger. He wound up on the wrong side of a split decision against Victor Henry under the California Xtreme Fighting banner in October 2018.
71: Significant strikes by which Phillips has outlanded his three UFC opponents. He has connected on 180 such strikes against Song, Else and Gabriel Silva while absorbing only 109 of them in return.
25: Years of age for Paiva, who was born on Oct. 17, 1995 in Santana, Amapa—a city of roughly 125,000 people in northern Brazil.
3: Paiva wins by submission, accounting for 15% of his career total (20). His methods of choice: one arm-triangle choke, one anaconda choke and one kimura. Paiva holds four other wins by knockout or technical knockout and 13 more by decision.
.794: Cumulative winning percentage between the three men—Rogerio Bontorin, Kai Kara France and Luan Lacerda—who have defeated Paiva. They sport a combined record of 50-13.
5: Countries in which Paiva has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 17-1 in his native Brazil, 2-0 in the United States, 1-0 in the United Arab Emirates, 0-1 in Uruguay and 0-1 in Australia.
19: Takedowns defended by Paiva in his four appearances inside the Octagon. Opponents have completed just six of their 25 attempts against him.
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