The UFC opened a four-event August lineup on Saturday with UFC on ESPN 71 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and in the main event a top flyweight contender bounced back from his first career loss.
Tatsuro Taira (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) showed his resiliency when he dominantly dispatched of short notice replacement HyunSung Park (10-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) by second-round submission, capping off a card where some history was made.
For more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC on ESPN 71.
Event stats
UFC on ESPN 71 became the third event in company history with multiple knockouts stemming from body kicks. UFC 193 and UFC Fight Night 226 also had the feat.
The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payout for the event totaled $150,000.
Chris Duncan, Mateusz Rebecki, Esteban Ribovics and Elves Brener earned $50,000 UFC on ESPN 71 fight-night bonuses.
Debuting fighters went 0-1 on the card.
The UFC sold VIP tickets to fans for UFC on ESPN 71, but the promotion did not make public the total number of tickets sold or the gate.
Betting favorites went 10-2 on the card.
Betting favorites improved to 16-10 in UFC headliners this year.
Total fight time for the 12-bout card was 2:11:57.
Tatsuro Taira def. HyunSung Park
Taira has earned 13 of his 17 career victories by stoppage.
Taira’s five stoppage victories since 2022 in UFC flyweight competition are most in the division.
Park had his 10-fight winning streak snapped for the first defeat of his career.
Chris Duncan def. Mateusz Rebecki
Chris Duncan (14-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) has earned three of his five UFC victories by decision.
Mateusz Rebecki (20-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) suffered the first decision loss of his career.
Karol Rosa def. Nora Cornolle
Karol Rosa (19-7 MMA, 8-4 UFC) has alternated wins and losses over her past nine fights.
Rosa has earned all eight of her UFC victories by decision.
Nora Cornolle (9-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) has suffered all three of her career losses by decision.
Neil Magny def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
Neil Magny’s (30-13 MMA, 23-12 UFC) 23 victories in UFC competition are tied with Andrei Arlovski, Donald Cerrone, Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway for second-most in company history behind Jim Miller (27).
Magny’s 22 victories in UFC welterweight competition are most in divisional history.
Magny’s nine stoppage victories in UFC welterweight competition are tied for fourth-most in divisional history behind Matt Brown (15), Vicente Luque (14) and Neil Magny (12).
Kevin Vallejos def. Danny Silva
Danny Silva (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has suffered both of his career losses by decision.
Rinya Nakamura def. Nathan Fletcher
Rinya Nakamura (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) has earned seven of his 10 career victories by stoppage.
Nathan Fletcher (9-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has suffered two of his three career losses by stoppage.
Fletcher has suffered both of his career stoppage losses by knockout.
Rodolfo Vieira def. Tresean Gore
Rodolfo Vieira (11-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) earned the first decision victory of his career.
Tresean Gore (5-4 MMA, 2-4 UFC) has suffered two of his four career losses by decision.
Andrey Pulyaev def. Nick Klein
Andrey Pulyaev (10-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has earned eight of his 10 career victories by stoppage.
Nick Klein (6-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) has suffered all three of his career losses by knockout.
Austin Bashi vs. John Yannis
John Yannis (9-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered both of his career stoppage losses by submission.
Rafael Estevam def. Felipe Bunes
Rafael Estevam (14-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has earned all three of his UFC victories by decision.
Felipe Bunes (14-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has suffered five of his eight career losses by decision.
Piera Rodriguez def. Ketlen Souza
Piera Rodriguez (11-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has earned all four of her UFC victories by decision.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on X @MJCflipdascript.
