By The Numbers: Gegard Mousasi vs. John Salter

Degree of difficulty has never been higher for John Salter.

The Gym-O representative will challenge reigning Bellator MMA middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi for his 185-pound title in the Bellator 264 headliner on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Salter enters the cage on the heels of a three-fight winning streak. He last appeared at Bellator 244, where he submitted Andrew Kapel with a third-round arm-triangle choke on Aug. 21. Mousasi, meanwhile, has rattled off 10 victories across his past 11 outings. He last fought on Oct. 29, when he retained his championship with a unanimous decision over Douglas Lima in the Bellator 250 main event.

As Salter and Mousasi make final preparations for their forthcoming five-round battle, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

36: Years of age for Mousasi, who was born on Aug. 1, 1985 in Tehran, Iran.

12: Mousasi wins by submission, accounting for 26% of his career total (47). His methods of choice: six rear-naked chokes, two triangle chokes, one armbar, one straight armbar, one arm-triangle choke and one guillotine choke. Mousasi owns 26 other wins by knockout or technical knockout and nine more by decision.

31: First-round finishes on the Mousasi resume, including three of the sub-minute variety. He knocked out Tsuyoshi Kurihara with a knee strike 10 seconds into their Deep 22 pairing on Dec. 2, 2005, wiped out Sanjin Kadunc with punches 35 seconds into their confrontation under the Future Battle banner on March 5, 2006 and submitted Jake O’Brien with a guillotine choke 31 seconds into their Dream 15 encounter on July 10, 2010.

4: Promotions in which Mousasi has held titles. He has struck gold in Bellator, Strikeforce, Dream and Cage Warriors Fighting Championship. In fact, Mousasi was a two-division champion in Dream, where he captured the company’s middleweight and light heavyweight crowns.

165: Combined victories between the seven men—Rafael Lovato Jr., Uriah Hall, Ronaldo Souza, Lyoto Machida, Muhammed Lawal, Akihiro Gono and Petras Markevicius—who have defeated Mousasi. They sport a cumulative winning percentage of .655 (165-74-13).

36: Years of age for Salter, who was born in Gardendale, Alabama, on March 21, 1985.

7: Salter wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 39% of his career total (18). His list of victims: Claudio Annicchiarico, Fred Weaver, Kalib Starnes, Casey Huffman, Jason MacDonald, Jeremiah Riggs and Roberto Traven. Salter owns 10 other wins by submission and one more by decision.

12: Organizations in which Salter has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 8-1 in Bellator, 1-2 in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, 1-0 in Strikeforce, 1-0 in King of the Cage, 1-0 in Adrenaline MMA, 1-0 in Ultimate Event Promotions, 1-0 in Capital City Cage Wars, 1-0 in Armageddon Fighting Championships, 1-0 in Pure Fighting Championships, 1-0 in Strike Hard Productions, 1-0 in The Warriors Cage and 0-1 in Xtreme Fighting Championships.

1: Bout in which Salter has gone the distance. He took a three-round unanimous decision from Costello van Steenis in the Bellator 233 main event in November 2019. Salter’s 21 other fights have all resulted in finishes, 17 of them in the first or second round.

.660: Cumulative winning percentage between the four men—Lovato, Reggie Pena, Dan Miller and Gerald Harris—who have beaten Salter. They boast a combined record of 64-22-1.