UFC Debuts – Big Wins or Big Flops?

After watching Rafael Dos Anjos and Josh Hendricks get KO’d in their UFC debuts at 91, it got me wondering how newcomers fared when they were matched against fighters who’d already been in the Octagon. I reviewed all the fights that met the criteria beginning with UFC 91 and working back to UFC 80, the promotions first event of the year. The numbers are pretty interesting:

Total Events: 16
Overall record: 14-21

Submission wins: 5
Submission losses: 7

(T)KO wins: 7
(T)KO losses: 9

Decision wins: 2
Decision losses: 5

Combined record of beaten opponents when they suffered the loss: 22-17

Interesting Statistics

-During UFC 86 no fights met the criteria of a UFC newcomer fighting an opponent with UFC experience.

-Only 20% of the bouts ended in a decision.

-The newcomers won only two, or 5.7% via decision (35 bouts)

-UFC 84 had six fights that met the criteria

-The newcomers won five of the six

-If UFC 84 is erased from the stats, the newcomers would be only 9-20

-UFC 84 and Fight Night 15 were the only events in which more than one newcomer was victorious against opponents with UFC experience

-16 of the 21 newcomers, or 76.2% were stopped by their opponents

-At UFC 85 and TUF Finale 7 each event only had one fight to meet the criteria and both newcomers won

-Rob Yundt made the list twice – first with a loss as a newcomer, and then he was beaten by a newcomer

-Shane Carwin made the list twice – first for a victory as a newcomer, and then he beat a newcomer in his second fight

-Chris Wilson made the list twice – first with a loss as a newcomer, and then he beat a newcomer in his second fight

Here is a complete list of the fights and results. The newcomer is always listed first. The bold lettering indicates a newcomer victory. The record is the opponents record in the UFC entering the fight in which they lost:

UFC 91
Rafael Dos Anjos KO loss to Jeremy Stephens
Josh Hendricks KO loss to Gabriel Gonzaga

UFC 90
Matt Horwich decision loss to Dan Miller

UFC 89
Neil Wain TKO loss to Shane Carwin
Dan Hardy decision win over Akihiro Gono (1-0)

UFC Fight Night 15
Mike Massenzio submission win over Drew McFedries (3-2)
Jason Brilz TKO win over Brad Morris (0-1)
Joe Vedepo KO loss to Alessio Sakara

UFC 88
Mike Patt TKO loss to Tim Boetsch

UFC 87
Ryan Thomas submission loss to Ben Saunders
Steve Bruno decision loss to Chris Wilson
Dan Evenson TKO loss to Cheick Kongo

UFC Fight Night 14
Reese Andy decision loss to Brandon Vera

UFC 86
No fights met criteria

UFC TUF 7 Finale
Rob Kimmons submission win over Rob Yundt (0-1)

UFC 85
Kevin Burns submission win over Roan Carneiro (2-1)

UFC 84
Shane Carwin KO win over Christian Wellisch (2-1)
Dong Hyun Kim TKO win over Jason Tan (0-1)
Yoshiyuki Yoshida submission win over War Machine (1-0)
Rousimar Palhares submission win over Ivan Salaverry (3-3)
Antonio Mendes submission (punches) loss to Thiago Silva
Goran Reljic TKO win over Wilson Gouveia (4-1)

UFC 83
Jason Day TKO win over Alan Belcher (3-2)

UFC Fight Night 13
Samy Schiavo TKO loss to Clay Guida
Ryan Roberts submission loss to Marcus Aurelio

UFC 82
David Bielkheden submission loss (punches) to Diego Sanchez
Chris Wilson decision loss to Jon Fitch

UFC 81
Tim Boetsch TKO win over David Heath (2-2)
Kyle Bradley TKO loss to Chris Lytle
Rob Yundt submission loss to Ricardo Almeida
Brock Lesnar submission loss to Frank Mir

UFC Fight Night 12
Justin Buchholz submission loss to Matt Wiman
Corey Hill TKO over Joe Veres (0-1)

UFC 80
Per Eklund decision loss to Sam Stout
James Lee TKO loss to Alessio Sakara
Paul Kelly decision win over Paul Taylor (1-1)