By the Numbers: UFC 290

When all is said and done, UFC 290 will go down as one of the best Ultimate Fighting Championship cards of 2023.

Alexander Volkanovski re-asserted his dominance over the rest of the featherweight division with a third-round technical knockout victory over Yair Rodriguez in Saturday’s main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Alexandre Pantoja claimed the flyweight crown in far more dramatic fashion, taking a split verdict over Brandon Moreno in the evening’s co-headliner. Elsewhere, Dricus Du Plessis staked his claim to the No. 1 contender’s spot at 185 pounds with an impressive stoppage of ex-champ Robert Whittaker in another featured bout.

Here is a by-the-numbers look at UFC 290, with statistics courtesy of UFCStats.com.



6: Victories in featherweight title fights for Volkanovski. That’s the second most in the history of the division behind only Jose Aldo (eight).

149: Total strikes for Volkanovski. By comparison, Rodriguez landed 57. Volkanovski also held a 66-to-40 edge in significant strikes.

7: Takedowns landed in 12 attempts for Volkanovski, who used that to log 7:13 of control time. Rodriguez did not attempt a takedown, nor did he enjoy a single second of control time. The seven takedowns is a UFC career best for Volkanovski.

37: Significant ground strikes for Volkanovski. Rodriguez landed just two.

5: Undisputed flyweight champions after Pantoja claimed the belt with his victory over Moreno. Pantoja joins Moreno, Deiveson Figueirdo, Henry Cejudo and Demetrious Johnson as the only men to have held the 125-pound strap.

276: Combined significant strikes landed by Pantoja (129) and Moreno (147). Moreno outlanded his opponent 41 to 33 in Round 2, 26 to 23 in Round 3, 31 to 20 in Round 4 and 27 to 25 in Round 5. Pantoja held a 28-to-22 advantage in the opening stanza, when he scored the fight’s only knockdown.

.600: Significant striking accuracy for Moreno, who landed 147 of 245 attempts. Pantoja was less accurate, landing 129 of 274 attempts for a 47 percent success rate.

6: Takedowns landed in 11 attempts for Pantoja, who secured 8:26 of control time in victory. Moreno meanwhile, landed two of four takedowns and logged 4:01 of control time.

3-0: Unofficial record for Pantoja against Moreno after UFC 290. That mark includes a decision win at UFC Fight Night 129 and an exhibition submission win on “The Ultimate Fighter 24.”

5: Finishes since 2020 for Dricus Du Plessis, who defeated ex-champ Robert Whittaker via second-round technical knockout on Saturday night. That ties Du Plessis with Brendan Allen and Gerald Meerschaert for the most finishes in the middleweight division during that timeframe.

33: Significant strikes landed by Du Plessis in the decisive second stanza. Whittaker, meanwhile, landed nine significant strikes in the period.

125: Significant strikes landed by Dan Hooker in a split-decision win over Jalin Turner at lightweight. Turner, meanwhile, landed 100 significant strikes. Hooker outlanded his foe 38 to 34 in Round 1, 44 to 34 in Round 2 and 43 to 32 in Round 3. Hooker also had the fight’s only knockdown and submission attempt.

3: Combined significant strikes absorbed by Bo Nickal in two UFC appearances and two bouts on Dana White’s Contender Series. The three-time NCAA champion outlanded Valentine Wooburn 7-2 in significant strikes en route to a 38-second technical knockout victory in their middleweight feature.

7: Welterweight knockout victories for Robbie Lawler, who ended a memorable UFC tenure with a first-round stoppage of Niko Price in the evening’s featured prellim. That ranks fifth in promotion history at 170 pounds behind Matt Brown (13), Thiago Alves (eight), Jingliang Li (eight) and Vicente Luque (eight).

0:38: Time of Lawler’s victory, the fastest finish of his UFC career and the second-quickest of his 47-bout professional tenure overall. The fastest: a 22-second KO of Joey Villasenor at Pride 32 on Oct. 21, 2006.

121: Total strikes landed by Tatsuro Taira in a three-round verdict over Edgar Chairez in a 130-pound catchweight affair. By comparison, Chairez landed 26 total strikes. Tairo also landed two of three takedown attempts and logged 9:53 of control time compared to 25 seconds for his opponent. That helped Taira survive being knocked down by Chairez in a competitive opening stanza.

0:20: Time of Denise Gomes’ first-round technical knockout victory against the previously undefeated Yazmin Jauregui. That is the quickest finish in UFC strawweight history.

17: Significant strikes ladned by Gomes in that brief period. Jauregui failed to land any strikes in defeat.

1: Submission defeat in 23 professional outings for Marcin Prachnio, who succumbed to an arm-triangle choke from Vitor Petrino in the third round of their preliminary light heavyweight encounter.

11: Takedowns landed by Petrino in two UFC appearances. After landing seven in a three-round verdict against Anton Turkalj at UFC Fight Night 221 in March, the Brazilian landed four while logging 8:39 of control time against Prachnio.

0:17: Time of Jesus Santos Aguilar’s one-punch knockout of Shannon Ross in their preliminary flyweight affair. That is the second-fastest KO in the history of the division behind only Dustin Ortiz’s 15-second finish of Hector Sandoval at UFC Fight Night 114 on Aug. 5, 2017.

4: Finishes under one minute at UFC 290, a modern era record for the promotion. Bo Nickal, Robbie Lawler, Denise Gomes and Jesus Santos Aguilar all got the job done in less than 60 seconds on Saturday night.

5: Knockdowns suffered by Ross in his last three bouts — two in the UFC and one on Dana White’s Contender Series.

114: Significant strikes — out of 115 total — landed by Esteban Ribovics in Round 2 and 3 of his unanimous decision victory over Kamuela Kirk at lightweight. Ribovics landed just one significant strike in the opening stanza, when Kirk attached himself to this back and logged 4:37 of control time.