UFC 328 sees rare double upset as fighters with 8+ takedowns lose title bouts

At UFC 328, a rare statistical anomaly occurred twice: fighters who landed 8 or more takedowns in title fights both lost. Historically, fighters landing 5+ takedowns in UFC title fights win 81.08% of the time, while those with 7+ takedowns win 83% of the time. Khamzat Chimaev landed 9 takedowns and Kai Asakura landed 8 takedowns, yet both were defeated. Asakura's takedowns were particularly high-quality with full positional control and nearly 11 minutes of ground time, yet he was still finished. The post suggests this demonstrates the importance of well-rounded skills over wrestling specialization alone, as wrestling is energy-intensive and highly dependent on weight cutting, injuries, and other circumstantial factors.