The UFC closes its busy April schedule on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 223, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas with a main card that streams on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN2.
A bantamweight main event will close the card. Song Yadong (19-7-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC) will try to make good on his second headlining opportunity when he takes on Ricky Simon (20-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC), who is riding a four-fight winning streak into his first opportunity at top billing.
For more on the numbers, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts for UFC Fight Night 223.
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Song Yadong vs. Ricky Simon
Yadong is 6-2-1 since he dropped to the UFC bantamweight division.
Simon’s four-fight UFC winning streak at bantamweight is tied for the third-longest active streak in the division behind Aljamain Sterling (eight) and Merab Dvalishvili (eight).
Simon has landed 37 takedowns in UFC bantamweight competition, the second most in divisional history behind Dvalishvili (61).
Caio Borralho vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
Michal Oleksiejczuk (18-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) is 2-0 since he dropped to the UFC middleweight division in August 2022.
Oleksiejczuk has earned all five of his UFC stoppage victories by knockout.
Julian Erosa vs. Fernando Padilla
Julian Erosa (27-10 MMA, 6-6 UFC) is 5-2 since he returned to the UFC for a third stint in June 2020.
Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta
Marcos Rogerio de Lima (20-8-1 MMA, 9-6 UFC) is 6-3 in the UFC when competing at heavyweight.
De Lima has earned 17 of his 20 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished 16 of those wins in Round 1.
De Lima absorbs 1.50 significant strikes in UFC heavyweight competition, the lowest rate among active fighters in the weight class.
Martin Buday vs. Jake Collier
Jake Collier (13-7 MMA, 5-7 UFC) is 2-4 since he moved up to the UFC heavyweight division in July 2020.
Collier is one of 17 fighters in UFC history to win in three weight classes. He also has victories at light heavyweight and middleweight.
Collier lands 7.56 significant strikes per minute in UFC heavyweight competition, the second-highest rate in divisional history behind Sergei Pavlovich (8.72).
Cody Durden vs. Charles Johnson
Cody Durden (14-4-1 MMA, 3-2-1 UFC) completes 57.1 percent of his takedown attempts in UFC flyweight competition, the third-highest rate in divisional history behind Justin Scoggins (62.9 percent) and Rogerio Bontorin (60 percent).
Charles Johnson (13-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) becomes the first fighter to make three UFC appearances in 2023. He also fought on Jan. 14 and Feb. 25.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 223.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
