Alex Pereira's two-division title run has a historic twist

The UFC makes its annual stop in New York on Saturday with UFC 295, which takes place at Madison Square Garden with a pair of title fights at the top of the pay-per-view main card following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.

In the main event, Jiri Prochazka (29-3-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will return to competition after a serious injury and face Alex Pereira (8-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) for the vacant light heavyweight belt. In the co-headliner, Sergei Pavlovich (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) meets Tom Aspinall (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) in an interim heavyweight championship bout.

For more on the numbers behind the title fight doubleheader, as well as the rest of the card, check out MMA Junkie's post-event facts from UFC 295 below.

Jiri Prochazka

Prochazka returns to competition for the first time since June 12, 2022. The 517-day break is the longest of his more than 13-year career.

Prochazka is 22-1-1 in his last 24 fights since June 2013.

Prochazka has won 28 of his 29 career victories by stoppage. This includes all three of his UFC victories.

Prochazka's victory at 4:32 of Round 5 marked the penultimate finish in the UFC championship bout behind Demetrious Johnson's victory over Kyoji Horiguchi at 4:59 of Round 5 at UFC 186.

Prochazka is one of five fighters in UFC history to score a knockout via a spinning back elbow. Molly McCann, Ricardo Ramos, Dong Hyun Kim and Uros Medic also achieved the feat.

Alex Pereira

Pereira is the first fighter to headline multiple UFC events at Madison Square Garden.

Pereira, a former UFC middleweight champion, was successful in his light heavyweight debut at UFC 291 in August.

Pereira is one of twelve undisputed middleweight champions in UFC history.

Pereira's eight MMA fights before becoming UFC champion are the second fewest in modern history, behind Brock Lesnar's four.

Pereira could become the ninth fighter in history to win titles in two weight classes. Randy Couture, BJ Penn, Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre, Daniel Cormier, Henry Cejudo, Amanda Nunes and Jon Jones achieved the feat.

Pereira's 10 MMA fights with a win before becoming a two-division champion would be the fewest in company history.

Pereira lands 62 percent of his significant strike attempts in UFC competition, the second-highest rate among active fighters in the company behind Tatiana Suarez (64 percent).

Sergei Pavlovich

Pavlovich's six-fight UFC heavyweight winning streak is the longest active streak in the division.

Pavlovich has won 15 of his 17 career victories by stoppage. He has finished all 15 of those wins by knockout.

Pavlovich has earned all six of his UFC victories by first-round knockout.

Pavlovich's six-fight UFC first-round knockout streak is the longest in the company's history.

Pavlovich's UFC six-fight knockout streak with Don Frye is the second longest in company history behind Chuck Liddell (seven).

Pavlovich's six-fight UFC stoppage streak is the longest streak among the company's active fighters.

Pavlovich averages 6.31 knockdowns per 15 minutes in UFC competition, the highest rate in company history.

Pavlovich lands 8.72 significant strikes per minute in UFC heavyweight competition, the highest rate in division history and second highest in company history behind Casey O'Neill (8.77).

Pavlovich's average fight time of 2:23 in UFC competition is the third shortest in company history behind Aspinall (2:19) and Drew McFedries (2:20).

Tom Aspinall

Aspinall has won all 13 of his career victories by stoppage.

Aspinall's average fight time of 2:19 in UFC competition is the shortest in company history.

Aspinall lands 7.65 significant strikes per minute in UFC heavyweight competition, the second-highest rate in division history behind Pavlovich (8.72).

Jessica Andrade

Jessica Andrade (24-12 MMA, 15-10 UFC) is making her 26th UFC fight, the most appearances by a woman in company history

Andrade is the first fighter to make five UFC appearances in 2023.

Andrade is one of 17 fighters in UFC history to claim victories in three weight classes. She is the only woman to achieve this feat, winning at bantamweight, flyweight and strawweight.

Andrade's three-fight defeat is the longest of her career. She has not won since January 2023.

Andrade's 15 UFC victories are the second most by a woman in company history, behind Amanda Nunes (16).

Andrade is 1-2 since returning to the UFC strawweight division in April 2022.

Andrade's eight stoppage wins in UFC women's competition are the second-most in company history behind Nunes (10).

Andrade's five stoppage wins in UFC strawweight competition are tied with Rose Namajunas and Amanda Lemos for the most in division history.

Andrade is one of twelve fighters in UFC history to score a knockout via slam. She achieved this feat at UFC 237.

Andrade is one of four players in history to win a UFC title fight by knockout following a slam. She achieved this feat at UFC 237.

Andrade landed 231 significant strikes against Lauren Murphy at UFC 283, the single-fight record for a UFC women's flyweight fight.

Andrade landed 231 significant strikes at UFC 283, the second-most in a three-round bout in UFC history behind Nate Diaz's 238 strikes against Donald Cerrone at UFC 141.

Andrade landed a total of 242 strikes against Claudia Gadelha at UFC Fight Night 117, the single-fight record for a UFC strawweight bout.

Andrade secured the only standing arm triangle choke submission in UFC history with her finish over Amanda Lemos at UFC Fight Night 205.

Andrade's 10 takedowns against Tecia Torres at UFC on FOX 29 are the single-fight record for a UFC women's fight.

Andrade's eight fight night bonuses for UFC strawweight bouts are the most in division history.

Mackenzie Dern

Mackenzie Dern's (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) four stoppage wins in UFC strawweight competition are tied for the fourth-most wins in division history behind Namajunas (five), Andrade (five) and Lemos (five).

Dern's four submission wins in UFC strawweight competition are the most in division history.

Dern's four submission victories in UFC competition are the second-most of any woman in company history behind Robertson (seven).

Dern's five fight night bonuses for UFC strawweight bouts are the third-most in division history behind Andrade (eight) and Namajunas (six).

Matt Frevola vs. Benoit Saint Denis

Matt Frevola's (11-3-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) three-fight UFC knockout streak is the second-longest active streak in the company behind Pavlovich (six).

Benoit Saint-Denis (12-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) has a four-fight UFC winning streak at lightweight, tied with Paddy Pimblett for the second-longest active streak in the division behind Islam Makhachev (12).

Saint-Denis' four-fight UFC stoppage streak is the third-longest among active fighters in the company behind Pavlovich (six) and Shavkat Rakhmonov (five).

Saint-Denis has earned all 12 of his career victories by stoppage.

Pat Sabatini vs. Diego Lopes

Pat Sabatini (18-4 MMA, 5-1 UFC) is absorbing just 1.35 significant punches per minute in UFC featherweight competition, the second-lowest rate in division history behind Rani Yahya (1.05).

Loopy Godinez vs. Tabatha Ricci

Loopy Godinez's (11-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) UFC strawweight five-fight win streak is the second-longest active streak in the division behind Suarez (six).

Godinez holds the modern record for shortest time between three UFC appearances at 42 days. She competed on October 9, October 16 and November 20, 2021.

Godinez is landing 56.4 percent of her significant punches in UFC strawweight competition, the third-best rate in division history behind Suarez (63.3 percent) and Loma Lookboonmee (58.7 percent).

Godinez has recorded 26 takedowns in UFC strawweight competition, the third-most in division history behind Carla Esparza (45) and Claudia Gadelha (36).

Godinez is landing 61.9 percent of her takedown attempts in UFC strawweight competition, the second-best strike rate in division history behind Suarez (65.8 percent).

Tabatha Ricci's (9-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) four-fight UFC strawweight winning streak is tied for the third-longest active streak in the division behind Suarez (six) and Godinez (five).

Ricci has won three of her four UFC victories by decision.

Jared Gordon vs. Mark Madsen

Jared Gordon (19-6 MMA, 7-5 UFC) has won six of his seven UFC victories by decision.

Gordon is landing 57.1 percent of his significant punches in UFC lightweight competition, the third-highest rate in division history behind Makhachev (61.3 percent) and Justin Gaethje (60.3 percent).

John Castaneda vs. Kyung Ho Kang

Kyung Ho Kang (19-9 MMA, 8-3 UFC) is 6-2 since returning to competition in January 2018 after a nearly three-and-a-half-year hiatus.

Kang's four submission victories in UFC bantamweight competition are the third-most in division history behind Rani Yahya (six) and Urijah Faber (six).

For more information on the card, check out MMA Junkie's UFC 295 event hub.

UFC research analyst and live stats producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.

The story originally appeared on MMA Junkie