All that was missing for Sean O'Malley was a finish.
Here is a by-the-numbers look at UFC 299, with statistics courtesy of UFCStats.com.
141: Significant strikes by which O’Malley outlanded Vera (230 to 89). That checks in as the second-greatest differential in Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight history. O’Malley also holds the top spot, as he outlanded Kris Moutinho by 160 significant strikes at UFC 264 in July 2021. That figure also checks in as the fourth-largest significant strike differential in a UFC title bout in any division.
150: Significant head strikes landed by O’Malley. By comparison, Vera landed 41.
61: Significant body strikes for O’Malley. Vera, meanwhile, landed 14.
34: Significant leg strikes for Vera. By comparison, O’Malley landed 19. Low kicks were the path to victory for Vera in his first bout with O’Malley, but they weren’t as effective in the rematch.
.640: Significant striking accuracy for O’Malley, who landed 230 of his 356 attempts. Vera was far less efficient, landing 89 of 241 attempts — a 36% clip.
0: Takedowns attempt by both O’Malley and Vera. “Suga” figures to face a far different style if his next title defense comes against Merab Dvalishvili as expected.
9: KO/TKO victories for Dustin Poirier, tying him with Drew Dober for the most in UFC lightweight history. Poirier rallied for a second-round knockout victory against Benoit St. Denis in the UFC 299 co-main event.
15: Finishes in UFC competition for Poirier, tying him with Matt Brown for the fourth most among all fighters in the Las Vegas-based promotion.
22: Career UFC wins for Poirier, tying him with Charles Oliveira, Neil Magny and Demian Maia for the fourth most in promotion history. Only Jim Miller (26), Donald Cerrone (23) and Andre Arlovski (23) have won more.
14: Career knockdowns for Poirier. By flooring St. Denis in Round 2, “The Diamond” moved into a tie with Thiago Santos, Junior dos Santos, Mauricio Rua, Lyoto Machida and Chuck Liddell for No. 5 all-time in UFC history.
26: Significant striking deficit for Poirier in Round 1, when St. Denis also secured two takedowns and logged 3:20 of control time.
4: Submission attempts for Poirier, who failed on multiple guillotine tries against St. Denis.
.660: Significant striking accuracy for Michael Page in a successful Octagon debut. “Venom” landed 41 of 62 attempts in a unanimous decision triumph over Kevin Holland in a featured welterweight affair. Holland, meanwhile, landed 29 of 61 significant strikes — a 47% success rate.
7: Consecutive victories for Jack Della Maddalena, tying him for the longest active winning streak in the UFC’s welterweight division. After losing his first two professional fights, the Aussie striker has won 17 bouts in a row overall. Maddalena extended his winning streak with a third-round stoppage of Gilbert Burns on Saturday night.
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28: Significant strikes landed by Maddalena — including one knockdown — in the decisive third round. Burns, meanwhile, did not land a single significant strike in the frame. Overall, Maddalena outlanded his foe 67 to 27 in significant strikes and 85 to 31 in total strikes.
7: Takedowns landed in 11 attempts for Burns, who also logged 5:07 total control time in defeat.
16: Significant strikes — all on the ground — landed by Curtis Blaydes in just 36 seconds of action in the second round of his stoppage victory over Jailton Almeida at heavyweight. In his previous seven outings — six in the UFC and one on Dana White’s Contender Series — Almeida absorbed a combined total of 29 significant strikes.
9: Takedowns landed in 12 attempts for Almeida in the opening stanza, the most ever for a heavyweight in a single round of a UFC bout. Blaydes, who landed seven in a single frame against Adam Milstead, previously held the top spot. Almeida ties Khabib Nurmagomedov for the most takedowns landed in a round at any weight class in UFC competition.
6: Consecutive victories for Maycee Barber, tying her with Erin Blanchfiled and Manon Fiorot for the longest active winning streak in the UFC women’s flyweight division. Barber solidified her position as a contender with a unanimous decision triumph over Katlyn Cerminara at UFC 299.
84: Significant strikes landed by Barber. By comparison, Cerminara landed 66. In a well-rounded effort, Barber secured all four of her takedown attempts, stuffed all but one of her opponent’s stakedowns and logged 4:45 of control time to Cerminara’s 2:52.
11: Takedowns landed in 19 attempts by Mateusz Gamrot in a unanimous decision win over Rafael dos Anjos. Gamrot, who landed nine of his takedowns over the final two frames, becomes the ninth lightweight in UFC history to land at least 10 takedowns in fight. The single-fight total is tied with Gleison Tibau, Loik Radzhabov and Marc Diakiese for the third-most ever in a 155-pound bout.
111: Total strikes landed by Gamrot. By comparison, dos Anjos landed 39. Gamrot also held a 57-to-36 edge in significant strikes, though dos Anjos scored the bout’s only knockdown in Round 1.
62: Significant strikes by which Kyler Phillips outlanded Pedro Munhoz in a unanimous decison triumph at bantamweight. Kyler landed a UFC career high 114 significant strikes — including 55 in Round 1 — en route to the most noteworthy triumph of his career to date.
3:57:12: Total fight time for Munhoz, second most in the history of the UFC’s bantamweight division behind only Marlon Vera. After spending 15 minutes in the Octagon on Saturday night, the Brazilian moved past Aljamain Sterling for the No. 2 spot.
4: Straight wins for Philipe Lins, tying him with Jamahal Hill and Vitor Petrino for the third-longest active winning streak in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. Khalil Rountree and Carlos Ulberg are tied for the top spot with five wins apiece.
7: Consecutive victories — two at 185 pounds and five at 170 — for Michel Pereira, tied for the fourth-longest active winning streak in the UFC. “Demolidor” scored a first-round submission of Michal Oleksiejczuk 61 seconds into the opening round of their middleweight bout.
0:18: Time of Robelis Despaigne’s first-round stoppage of Josh Parisian. That’s the second-fastest finish for a debuting heavyweight in UFC history. The fastest: Todd Duffee’s seven-second KO of the late Tim Hague at UFC 102.
5:31: Total cage time for Despaigne in five professional wins. The majority of that occurred in the Cuban’s professional debut, a TKO of Katuma Mulumba at the 4:54 mark of Round 1 at Titan FC 77. His next four fights have last a grand total of 37 seconds combined.
9: Takedowns landed in 14 attempts for Asu Almabaev in a three-round verdict against C.J. Vergara at flyweight. The Kazakhstan native racked up 9:32 of control time en route to his 15th consecutive professional triumph.
9-8: Career UFC record for Joanne Wood, who announced her retirement following a split-decision triumph over Maryna Moroz in the evening’s opening bout at flyweight. By besting Moroz, “Jojo” avenged a defeat that occurred 3,255 days earlier at UFC Fight Night 64.
136: Significant strikes landed by Wood, the second most of her UFC tenure. By comparison, Moroz landed 102. After being controlled for the majority of Round 1, Wood outlanded her foe 58 to 45 in Round 2 and 74 to 52 in Round 3.