UFC 328 Sees Rare Double Occurrence: Two Title Fighters Lose Despite 8+ Takedowns

At UFC 328, a rare event occurred twice when fighters who completed eight or more takedowns in title fights still lost their bouts. Historically in UFC title fights, fighters who land five or more takedowns win 81.08 percent of the time, and those with seven or more win 83 percent of the time. Khamzat Chimaev landed nine takedowns and Tatsuro Taira landed eight with nearly 11 minutes of control time, yet both lost their respective title fights. The post analyzes how this demonstrates that even elite-level wrestling carries only about 80 percent success probability, and that total well-roundedness remains superior to specialization. It suggests that wrestling is highly energy-intensive and vulnerable to factors like weight cuts, injuries, and other circumstances that can dramatically shift success rates against skilled strikers.