Fight Facts: UFC 299 ‘O’Malley vs. Vera 2’

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and Octagon oddities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 7,564
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 682

The Ultimate Fighting Championship went all out in Miami for UFC 299, with 14 well-made matches and very little filler. With high expectations coming into it, the fight card largely delivered with some spectacular finishes and thrilling comebacks. This event featured a near-record number of takedowns landed, a few obvious extra checks for post-fight bonus magnets and a couple of early “Walkout of the Year” candidates.

All Wrestling, All Day: Throughout the 14-fight showcase, fighters completed 54 takedowns. This total is five shy of the UFC single-event record set at UFC Fight Night 221 in March 2023.

Got You Back: In his first title defense, Sean O'Malley outworked Marlon Vera to claim a clear-cut decision over his Ecuadorian rival. He is the sixth man in bantamweight history to defend his belt at least once successfully.

His Hands Will Be Sore: O’Malley connected with 230 significant strikes on Vera, matching his career high set against Kris Moutinho in 2021. He is the lone bantamweight in UFC history to eclipse 200 significant strikes in multiple fights.

Rearranged Vera’s Face: “Suga Sean” outstruck Vera by a margin of 230 to 89, for a difference of 141 sig strikes. This gap is the second-widest in UFC bantamweight history, second only to O’Malley’s performance against Moutinho, where he was up by 160 significant strikes. It also clocks in as the seventh-largest strike disparity in the UFC overall.

$uga $ean: After winning all five rounds, O’Malley claimed a “Performance of the Night” check for his handiwork. He passes T.J. Dillashaw for the most in his division’s history with nine.

Some Beard: Vera is on the receiving end of the two highest significant strike lands in the UFC’s 135-pound division, 271 against Rob Font and 230 against O’Malley. He has absorbed 1,541 significant strikes at bantamweight and still never hit the canvas, a record in the weight class and among the highest overall behind Max Holloway.

Racing Through the Fire: Dustin Poirier slept Benoit St. Denis to earn his 22nd victory inside the Octagon. This puts him in the top five, tied with Demian Maia, Charles Oliveira and Neil Magny, for the fourth-most in league history. Jim Miller’s 26 lead the pack.

And It’s Not His Last: Registering his 15th finish as a UFC fighter, Poirier tied Matt Brown by reaching the fourth spot in that category. They all trail Oliveira’s 20.

Make Poirier vs. Dober: Poirier is again tied with Drew Dober for the most knockouts in UFC lightweight history with nine apiece. His 11 overall matches totals held by Anderson Silva, Anthony Johnson and Thiago Santos for the third-most ever. He is three shy of Derrick Lewis’ record.

Enough Cash to Run a Diamond Shop: “The Diamond” claimed another post-fight bonus check by shellacking St. Denis. His 13 put him one behind Anderson Silva and six behind overall company leader Oliveira.

Never Likes to Make It Easy on Himself: Nine of Poirier’s 13 bonuses have been of the “Fight of the Night” variety, including his scrap with the Frenchman. He and Edson Barboza are tied for the most FOTN checks in promotional history.

Ever the Showman: By making his UFC debut, Michael Page became the second-longest tenured Bellator MMA fighter to switch over to the UFC, having competed in its confines 19 times. Michael Chandler is the only crossover fighter with more, holding 23 Bellator appearances.

The Crooked Nose Knows: Jack Della Maddalena staged a comeback to put Gilbert Burns out with a knee and follow-up strikes. The Aussie has won 17 straight fights since dropping his first two pro outings, including 14 stoppages. This marked the first time he finished a fight outside the second round.

Yan Can Fight: Earning his first win since 2021, Petr Yan snared a decision over Yadong Song. The Russian has reached the third round or later in 10 straight outings.

A True Heavyweight Ending: Surviving nine takedowns in the first round, Curtis Blaydes pounded out Jailton Almeida with hammerfists in the second stanza. In his entire 17-fight UFC tenure leading to this pairing, Blaydes had only been grounded four times.

Ragdolled the Wrestler: In a losing effort, Almeida entered the top five at heavyweight with nine successful takedowns in a single fight. Blaydes’ 14-takedown performance against Alexander Volkov reigns supreme at the weight class.

The Future Is Coming: Maycee Barber prevailed against Katlyn Cerminara via unanimous decision, earning her eighth victory as a UFC flyweight. “The Future” is tied with Gillian Robertson for the third-most wins in the division, and they both trail Valentina Shevchenko and Cerminara’s nine apiece.

A Wrestler’s Delight: After 15 minutes elapsed, Mateusz Gamrot had registered 11 takedowns on Rafael dos Anjos en route to a decision victory. This total joins several other performances as the joint third-most landed in a single lightweight fight. Khabib Nurmagomedov’s 21 on Abel Trujillo remains the most at 155 pounds and the company as a whole.

Dos Ancient: Dos Anjos added another 15 minutes of cage time to his already record total, putting him just shy of eight hours and 42 minutes inside the Octagon. He remains the lone competitor in organizational history to lodge at least eight hours in its cage.

It Happened, and Now It’s Over: Philipe Lins and Ion Cutelaba tangled for three rounds, with Lins emerging with the nod on all three scorecards. It is the first time in the career of “Monstro” where he has earned back-to-back decisions.

Dancing All the Way: In 61 seconds, Michel Pereira choked the consciousness out of Michal Oleksiejczuk via rear-naked choke. “Demolidor” becomes one of 14 fighters in organizational history to land multiple technical submissions and is the fifth to do so with a pair of rear-naked chokes (Drew Fickett, Kevin Lee, Jake Matthews and Gillian Robertson).

What Took Him So Long: It took debuting Cuban heavyweight Robelis Despaigne 18 seconds to put Josh Parisian away in his UFC debut. All five of Despaigne’s wins have come by first-round knockout.

Cuban Missile Crisis: The 18-second drubbing by Despaigne is the 12th fastest stoppage in UFC heavyweight history. His debut performance is the third-quickest in the division, with Todd Duffee’s seven-second decimation of Tim Hague at UFC 102 and Justin Martin’s heel hook of Eric Martin in 14 seconds at UFC 12 holding the No. 1 and 2 spots.

Maybe Try Bantamweight: Clocking in at 127 pounds ahead of his clash with Asu Almabaev, C.J. Vergara missed weight as a UFC flyweight for the third time. He joins John Lineker and Ray Borg as the only three to earn this unfortunate distinction.

Sweet Scottish Revenge: Joanne Wood prevailed in her retirement fight, avenging a past loss to Maryna Moroz by split decision. The Scottish striker ends her MMA career with the third-most appearances in the UFC flyweight division (13), the fifth-most wins (seven), the most significant strikes landed (1,043) and is in the top three for most knockdowns landed (two).

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC 299, St. Denis had never been finished (15 fights), Burns (28 fights) and Cerminara (23 fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts and Parisian had never succumbed to strikes in the first round (22 fights, seven losses).

More of These Walkouts, Please: To introduce himself to UFC fans, Page debuted with a remixed walkout of “Rest in Peace” by Jim Johnston, famously known as the theme song for WWE legend The Undertaker. He is the second fighter to pick this song, with Israel Adesanya doing so first at UFC 276 in 2022.

Gonna Fall Now: Changing up his entrance music, Song went with “Gonna Fly Now” by Bill Conti from the “Rocky” soundtrack. He lost, adding another defeat to the song's total with the most losses in UFC history.

Consider His Might Tested: As he has done for his 20-fight UFC run, Blaydes emerged with “Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat)” by The Immortals playing in the arena. His win percentage with the track sits at an even .750 with his knockout of Almeida.