The John Crouch protégé will defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight crown when he toes the line against Merab Dvalishvili in the UFC 306 headliner on Sept. 14 at The Sphere in Las Vegas. O’Malley heads into his on the heels of back-to-back-to-back victories. He last fought at UFC 299, where he avenged his only career defeat with a five-round unanimous decision over Marlon Vera on March 9.
As O’Malley moves ever closer to his looming confrontation with Dvalishvili at 135 pounds, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied him to this point:
29: Years of age for O’Malley, who was born in Helena, Montana, on Oct. 24, 1994. “Pulp Fiction,” “The Specialist,” “Love Affair,” “The Puppet Masters” and “The River Wild” were the Top 5 movies at the domestic box office at the time.
12: O’Malley wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 67% of his career total (18). His list of UFC victims: Aljamain Sterling, Raulian Paiva, Kris Moutinho, Thomas Almeida, Eddie Wineland and Jose Quinones. O’Malley holds one other win by submission (5%) and five more by decision (28%).
93: Seconds needed for O’Malley to punch out Josh Reyes in his pro debut under the Intense Championship Fighting banner on March 6, 2015. More than nine years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
475,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses doled out to O’Malley across his 12 appearances in the UFC. He has been awarded “Performance of the Night” on six occasions and “Fight of the Night” on three others.
2: Countries in which O’Malley has plied his mixed martial arts trade. He has gone 17-1 with one no contest in the United States and 1-0 in the United Arab Emirates.
277: Miles between where O’Malley trains at the MMA Lab in Glendale, Arizona, and UFC headquarters in Las Vegas.
39: Rounds started by O’Malley as a professional mixed martial artist. He has involved the judges five times and carries a 5-0 record in those bouts.
7.67: Significant strikes landed per minute by O’Malley as a UFC bantamweight, placing him second on the promotion’s all-time list at 135 pounds. Only former Deep champion Victor Henry connects at a higher clip (8.34).
377: Days spent by O’Malley as undisputed UFC bantamweight champion. He has already surpassed the reigns of Henry Cejudo (352), Cody Garbrandt (309), the aforementioned Yan (237) and Renan Barao (138).
.700: Cumulative winning percentage between the 10 men—Sterling, Paiva, Moutinho, Almeida, Wineland, Quinones, Vera, Petr Yan, Andre Soukhamthath and Terrion Ware. They boast a combined record of 189-80-3.