By the numbers: Champions, titles for grabs, BMF 3

UFC 300 is stacked, from the first fight of the night, which features former champs going head-to-head — Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt — to the last fight of the night, which also features a current champion vs. a champion who never lost his belt squaring off — Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill.

Between those two fights, there are plenty of other matchups to get excited about. Justin Gaethje goes for his first BMF title defense. Bo Nickal looks to extend his unbeaten streak in the UFC. Aljamain Sterling has his first fight at featherweight. And Kayla Harrison faces Holly Holm in her UFC debut.

Here’s a look at the numbers behind the UFC’s biggest event of the year, starting with a rare feat from the reigning light heavyweight champion, Pereira.

7

Total UFC fights Alex Pereira needed to become two-division champion

Pereira has been on a tear since joining the UFC in 2021.

After dozing through the opponents in his first three fights, which included a first-round KO win over future middleweight champ Sean Strickland, “Poatan” earned a shot at the then-champ, Israel Adesanya. Pereira, who had a history with Adesanya dating back to their kickboxing days, upset Adesanya to claim the title in just his fourth UFC fight at UFC 281 in November 2022.

After losing the rematch to Adesanya at UFC 287 last April, Pereira moved up to light heavyweight, where he debuted in July against a UFC legend, former champ Jan Blachowicz. Pereira won by split decision to earn a shot at the vacant title against another former division champ, Jiří Procházka. In November, Pereira beat Procházka by second-round TKO to win his second UFC title.

Saturday will be Pereira’s first time putting the UFC light heavyweight belt on the line.

$970,000

Charles Oliveira‘s UFC bonus money

Through his 14 years of UFC experience, “Do Bronx” has 19 performance bonuses. With another $50,000 bonus this weekend, Oliveira would bring his total to over $1 million. Quite impressive.

There are three other fighters on this card who rank in the top 10 for most fight night bonuses: Jim Miller (15), Justin Gaethje (12) and Max Holloway (11).

20

The UFC record for most finishes, held by Charles Oliveira

Since we’re on the topic of Oliveira cashing checks, the key to his capability to bring home the big bucks is his ground game. Oliveira, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, is a serious problem for opponents if the fight goes to the mat. If Oliveira gets an opponent on the ground, don’t expect to see them get back up. He has 16 wins by submission.

But don’t count out the former lightweight champ when fighting on the feet, either. He also has four KOs in the UFC. In his last fight, against Beneil Dariush, he needed less than one round to win by knockout. Oliveira’s 20 total finishes are the most in UFC history.

43

Jim Miller’s fights in the UFC

At this point, Miller only knows how to set UFC records. When he makes the walk to the Octagon at UFC 300, it will be his 44th time doing so — the most in UFC history. Heavyweight Andrei Arlovski has the second most (41).

In addition to leading the UFC in total fights, Miller is also the leader in wins (26), submission attempts (48) and lightweight finishes (16). At 40 years old, Miller has more Octagon appearances than birthdays.

This will be Miller’s third fight at a centennial UFC event.

1st

UFC 300 will be full of firsts. Here are some we will see Saturday night:

• This is the first time two former UFC champions will fight in the opening bout of a UFC fight card.

• The first time two Chinese fighters will clash for a UFC title, when Yan Xiaonan challenges strawweight champ Zhang Weili.

• This is the first time a fighter has moved weight classes for a BMF title fight, as featherweight Max Holloway will compete at lightweight.

• Aljamain Sterling’s first fight at featherweight after moving up from bantamweight.

• Jamahal Hill’s first fight since vacating the 205-pound title last year due to injury.

• Calvin Kattar‘s first fight since suffering an injury in October 2022.

• Kayla Harrison’s first UFC fight.

135?

Weight for Kayla Harrison’s UFC debut

Speaking of Harrison, the former two-time PFL champion will have to cut an additional 20 pounds to make weight in the UFC. In the PFL, Harrison competed in the women’s lightweight division, which had a weight limit of 155 pounds. To add to the level of difficulty in her UFC debut, Harrison will be up against former bantamweight champion Holly Holm.

16

Jessica Andrade‘s UFC wins

Andrade has been a staple of the UFC’s strawweight and women’s flyweight divisions for years. Since making her UFC debut nearly 11 years ago, she has been in 26 fights across both divisions. Four of those were title fights.

Andrade is tied with women’s MMA GOAT Amanda Nunes for the most wins in UFC women’s history.

46.1%

Percentage of fighters on the card who hold or have held a UFC title

UFC 300 is littered with championship-level fighters — 12 of the 26 fighters on the card currently hold or have previously held UFC gold. Three fighters currently hold titles: Zhang (strawweight), Pereira (light heavyweight) and Gaethje (BMF). And nine fighters have been champions before: Hill (light heavyweight), Holloway (featherweight), Oliveira (lightweight), Procházka (light heavyweight), Sterling (men’s bantamweight), Holm (women’s bantamweight), Andrade (strawweight), Figueiredo (men’s flyweight) and Garbrandt (men’s bantamweight).

-3000-ish

Bo Nickal is a massive favorite vs. Cody Brundage

Despite being the UFC 300 fighter with the least professional fighting experience, Nickal enters with the steepest betting odds to win on the card. But, even with such limited experience, judging by his previous performances, Nickal is a deserving favorite. There’s a reason he is the top prospect the sport has seen, maybe ever.

Since making his pro-MMA debut in June 2022, Nickal, a former wrestling world champion and three-time NCAA Division I national champ, has beaten every opponent he’s faced via first-round finish. He outclassed Jamie Pickett and Val Woodburn in his first two UFC fights. According to the ESPN BET odds, we shouldn’t be surprised if he does the same to Brundage in the opening fight on the main card.

312

play

Max Holloway excited for BMF fight with Justin Gaethje

Max Holloway joins Brett Okamoto to discuss his BMF title bout vs. Justin Gaethje.

Max Holloway’s UFC record for largest strike differential

When it comes to boxing, few MMA fighters — if any — can keep up with the former lightweight champ. Holloway’s striking prowess was on full display in his 2021 win over Kattar, another skilled striker who, at that time, was firmly in contention to fight for the title. Holloway dismantled Kattar, landing 447 total strikes compared to just 134 by Kattar.

Holloway’s win over Kattar also earned him the record for the most significant strikes landed in a fight, 445. That means only two of the strikes he threw in that fight were scored as insignificant. Coincidentally, Holloway also has the record for the second-most significant strikes landed in a fight. He landed 290 vs. Brian Ortega in 2018.

Two more fighters on Saturday’s card are also in the top 10 on the largest strike differential list: Hill, for his win over Glover Teixeira, and Andrade, for her win over Lauren Murphy. Both fights were in 2023.

66

Combined knockout percentage of Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill

All of the fights on this weekend’s pay-per-view have the potential to get fans out of their seats. Still, the main event will provide guaranteed fireworks when the previous light heavyweight champ, Hill, challenges the current belt-holder, Pereira, to reclaim the belt Hill never lost in the cage. Hill vacated the title in July due to an Achilles tear, and this will be his first fight since the injury.

Of a combined 15 fights between Pereira and Hill, two-thirds have ended in knockouts, win or lose.