Preview: Johnson vs. Mullarkey
Jamie
Mullarkey has not yet established himself as a recognizable
name on the
Ultimate Fighting Championship roster. His latest opponent has
no such problems.
The Magnus MMA export will lock horns with “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 12 finalist
Michael
Johnson in a three-round
UFC on ESPN 39 lightweight showcase this Saturday at the UFC
Apex in Las Vegas. Mullarkey has rattled off six wins across his
past nine outings. However, he finds himself on the rebound
following a technical knockout loss to
Jalin
Turner at UFC 272 on March 5. Johnson, meanwhile, enters his
26th appearance inside the Octagon having lost four of his past
five bouts. He last competed at UFC on ESPN 36, where he blew up
Alan
Patrick with punches in the second round of their May 14
pairing and recorded his first victory in more than three
years.
As Mullarkey and Johnson make final preparations ahead of their
forthcoming battle at 155 pounds, a look at some of the numbers
that have accompanied them to this point:
27: Years of age for Mullarkey, who was born on Aug. 17, 1994 in
Central Coast, Australia.
10: Mullarkey victories by knockout or technical knockout,
accounting for 71% of his career total (14). His list of UFC
victims:
Devonte
Smith and
Khama
Worthy. Mullarkey holds three other victories by submission—all
via rear-naked choke—and one more by decision.
100,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Mullarkey across
his five appearances in the UFC. He has been awarded “Fight of the
Night” one on occasion and “Performance of the Night” on
another.
6: Organizations in which Mullarkey has competed as a mixed martial
artist. He has gone 8-1 in Brace For War, 2-3 in the UFC, 2-0 in
Superfight MMA, 1-0 in Roshambo MMA, 1-0 in Urban Fight Night and
0-1 in the Australian Fighting Championship.
.731: Cumulative winning percentage between the five
opponents—Turner,
Fares Ziam,
Brad
Riddell,
Luke
Catubig and
Alexander
Volkanovski—who have defeated Mullarkey. They sport a combined
record of 68-24-1.
36: Years of age for Johnson, who was born in St. Louis on June 4,
1986.
9: Johnson wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for
45% of his career total (20). His list of UFC victims: Patrick,
Dustin
Poirier,
Gleison
Tibau,
Danny
Castillo and
Edward
Faaloloto. Johnson owns two other wins by submission and nine
more by decision.
43: Seconds needed for Johnson to put away
Aaron
Derrow with punches at Xtreme Cage Fighter 10 on Oct. 3, 2009.
Having occurred 12-plus years ago, it remains his fastest finish to
date.
15: Consecutive calendar years in which Johnson has fought at least
once. In addition to his 1-0 mark in 2022, he went 4-2 in 2008, 3-2
in 2009, 1-1 in 2010, 1-1 in 2011, 3-1 in 2012, 2-1 in 2013, 1-0 in
2014, 1-2 in 2015, 1-1 in 2016, 0-1 in 2017, 2-1 in 2018, 0-2 in
2019, 0-1 in 2020 and 0-1 in 2021.
370: Combined victories between the 17 opponents—
Clay Guida,
Thiago
Moises,
Steven Ray,
Josh
Emmett,
Darren
Elkins,
Justin
Gaethje,
Khabib
Nurmagomedov,
Nate Diaz,
Beneil
Dariush,
Reza Madadi,
Myles
Jury,
Paul Sass,
Jonathan
Brookins,
Eric
Marriott,
Joe Brammer,
James
Krause and
Ted
Worthington—who have beaten Johnson. The boast a .681
cumulative winning percentage (370-171-2).