Fight Facts: UFC 300 ‘Pereira vs. Hill’

Jay PettryApr 15, 2024

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: 7,628
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 687

The Ultimate Fighting Championship created lofty expectations for the massive UFC 300 event, and the organization blew those out of the water. In one of the greatest UFC cards ever run, one of the most memorable combat sports moments was achieved as an all-time great knockout. With multiple year-end awards likely going to this incredible show, it featured the highest bonus total of any single card, a late stoppage record that can only be tied and a new major player in the women’s bantamweight division.

Half Went to One Dude: The organization upgraded its bonus amounts to $300,000 for this special event, doling out two “Performance of the Night” checks and one for “Fight of the Night.” The $1.2 million exceeds any past event’s total by over double, with the previous record $550k from UFC on ESPN 37 and UFC 282.

Say His Name: Although he did not prevail, Jim Miller is in the history books as the sole participant in UFC 100, UFC 200 and UFC 300.

The Top Team: Four competitors represented American Top Team at UFC 300: Renato Carneiro, Kayla Harrison, Bo Nickal and Arman Tsarukyan. All four prevailed at night’s end.

Such a Fantastic, Short Resume: Knocking Jamahal Hill out, Alex Pereira became the ninth UFC light heavyweight champion to defend his throne successfully. Of note, Jon Jones achieved this feat on two separate reigns.

Ice Cold Move: Pereira now posts a career knockout rate of 80% after icing Hill with punches. Half of his stoppage wins due to strikes have come in Round 1.

China Beat China: Weili Zhang needed all five rounds to outwork Xiaonan Yan by decision. Her finish rate fell to 76% with the victory, and for the first time in her career, she has won two fights on the scorecards in a row.

All of Them Great: Zhang won her ninth appearance as a UFC strawweight. This puts her one behind divisional leads Jessica Andrade, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Carla Esparza and Angela Hill, who are all tied in the lead with 10 apiece.

Yan Can Punch, and Grapple Too: While Yan did not get her hand raised, she successfully grounded Zhang on three occasions. This takedown total is as many as Zhang has allowed in her previous 10 UFC outings combined.

Easiest Knockout of the Year Award Ever: Max Holloway slumped Justin Gaethje with one second left in the fifth round to claim the symbolic UFC “BMF” title. His knockout is tied with Yair Rodriguez’struction of Chan Sung Jung at UFC Fight Night 139 in 2018 for the latest in a UFC fight.

A Blessing on You: “Blessed” earned his 22nd win inside the Octagon by dispatching Gaethje. This tally puts him in a tie for fourth with several other competitors for the most all-time. Donald Cerrone and Andrei Arlovski each sport 23, while Miler’s 26 is atop the leaderboard.

Bloody Dangerous Pillow Fists: Holloway has earned 13 of his 22 victories in the UFC by stoppage. Only seven fighters in promotional history have performed more, and Charles Oliveira’s 20 are the most.

It Can Happen at Any Time: With his fifth-round knockout in the books, Holloway is the first fighter in UFC history to record a knockout in Rounds 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Infinite Energy Code: For the 16th time in his UFC run, Holloway connected with over 100 significant strikes. The Hawaiian extends his record far and away beyond the next closest competitors.

Good Luck Catching Him: With a total of 181 sig strikes on Gaethje, Holloway’s overall number now sits at 3,378. No other combatant has landed more than 1,900.

That Should Have Been a Knockdown: Although Gaethje clipped him and briefly put him on his seat in the fourth round, Holloway has never officially been knocked down as a UFC fighter. The former featherweight champ extends his record to 29 UFC outings without getting dropped.

Ask the Boss: Holloway earned POTN and his half of the FOTN check for $600,000. This total is more than the amount the UFC had doled out in bonuses for any past fight card.

Double Double Prizes Prizes: The Hawaiian previously claimed double bonuses when facing Brian Ortega in 2018. This makes him the fourth fighter after Anderson Silva, Cerrone and Gaethje to pick up more than one post-fight bonus after two or more victories.

Impossibly Entertaining: Gaethje has engaged in 13 UFC outings to date. He celebrates 13 bonus awards, now $300k richer for his battle with Holloway.

He Wrestled the Alligator: Tsarukyan wrangled Charles Oliveira en route to a split decision call. The Russian-Armenian is the first to beat “Do Bronx” on the scorecards since Frankie Edgar defeated then-featherweight Oliveira at UFC 162 in 2013.

Some Coined Him “Bo Penny”: Reaching the second round for the first time as a pro, Nickal had his way with Cody Brundage until landing the rear-naked choke. The Pennsylvania-based wrestler has earned all six of his victories inside the distance.

Don’t Bet on Bo: Nickal closed as a -1600 betting favorite against Brundage. This overwhelming line ties him with Ronaldo Souza and Umar Nurmagomedov as the fifth-highest favored fighter in company history. He is the only fighter in company history to feature odds above -1500 twice, as he was -1800 against Jamie Pickett in 2023.

A Tornado Wrapped in a Hurricane: Staging a comeback in Round 2, Jiri Prochazka defeated Aleksandar Rakic with strikes. The Czech has performed 29 of his 30 pro wins by stoppage.

Boring but Important: Aljamain Sterling hit eight takedowns in his featherweight debut, a clear-cut decision win over Calvin Kattar. Leading up to this pairing, Kattar had only given up two in total to his previous 12 adversaries.

Kayla Has Arrived: For the first time in her career, Harrison competed below the featherweight division. The 33-year-old made her way to bantamweight and throttled Holly Holm with a second-round rear-naked choke.

He Blew the Doors Off: Diego Lopes smashed Sodiq Yusuff in 89 seconds to earn his third first-round finish in a row. The Brazilian has earned 92% of his wins inside the distance, including each of his last seven.

Money Moicano Wants to Get Paid: Submission specialist Carneiro procured his first stoppage due to strikes when he drummed out Jalin Turner. The previous 10 finishes for “Moicano” had all come by tapout.

Still a Factor: Jessica Andrade earned her 17th win on the roster by outpointing Marina Rodriguez. The former strawweight queen now holds more triumphs than any other woman to compete inside the Octagon, breaking a tie with Amanda Nunes.

A Record Discussed Earlier: Ten of Andrade’s 17 wins have come at 115 pounds. This ties her with the aforementioned Jedrzejczyk, Esparza and Hill for the most in the division’s history.

Green Day: Landing 186 significant strikes on Miller, Bobby Green prevailed over Miller via decision. The strike discrepancy of Green connecting with 129 more than Miller’s 57 puts Green’s performance in the top 10 for the widest gap of strike totals in a UFC fight.

Jim “Active” Miller: In an unsuccessful effort, Miller made his 44th walk to the Octagon on Saturday night. Arlovski is the only fighter with more than 40, with the next closest active fighter,
Clay Guida, at 36.

Dust Yourself Off and Get Back in There: Miller suffered his 17th loss on the roster by falling short to Green. He and Arlovski are tied for the third-most defeats as a UFC fighter, with Jeremy Stephens and Guida holding the top spot together with 18 each.

Fig Around and Find Out: Strangling Cody Garbrandt with a rear-naked choke, Deiveson Figueiredo advanced his pro finish rate to 78%. “Deus da Guerra” presents equal submissions to knockouts on his ledger.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC 300, Nickal had never fought beyond Round 1 (five fights), Rakic (17 fights) and Yusuff (16 fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts and Garbrandt had never been submitted (19 fights).

Tribal Power: Pereira has selected “Itsari” by Brazilian metallers Sepultura in all eight of his UFC tilts. Pereira has won seven of those eight appearances.

A Genius of Love: After five selections of “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton, Cody Brundage switched his walkout music to Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy.” The loss to Nickal is his first when picking the pop tune.

I Know the End Is Comin’ Soon: Across his UFC tenure, Miller has walked to the cage accompanied by “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Despite the loss to Green, Miller still sports a win percentage of .636 after using the track.