Fight Facts: UFC 303 ‘Pereira vs. Prochazka 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: 7,739
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 696

The Ultimate Fighting Championship made chicken salad out of chicken something for its tentpole show at the end of International Fight Week. The promotion pulled several rabbits out of hats, including a bizarre switcheroo not seen in 30 years. UFC 303 featured one of the widest betting differentials ever seen in the company, a super speedy stoppage in a lighter weight class and a ruthless elbow that would make Kenny Florian blush.

Less Than Three Years to Do This: Notching his 11th win as a pro MMA fighter, Alex Pereira defended his light heavyweight strap by lamping Jiri Prochazka. “Poatan” sports an 82% knockout rate, with five of his last six wins coming via strikes.

All Legends: Pereira is the first champion at 205 pounds since Jon Jones in 2019 to defend his title on multiple occasions. He is the sixth to pull this off, joining elite company that includes Frank Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Jones (twice) and Daniel Cormier.

A Special 38: When Pereira finished Prochazka the first time in 2023, the Brazilian needed exactly 38 significant strikes to get the job done. In their rematch less than eight months later, Pereira scored 38 significant strikes en route to the victory.

Literally Anywhere, Anyplace, Anytime: Subbing in for an ill Brian Ortega, Dan Ige stepped in on a few hours’ notice to face Diego Lopes in the co-main attraction. Ige is not the first on fight day to unexpectedly accept a fight, as alternate Fred Ettish had mere minutes to prepare for his lone UFC appearance against Johnny Rhodes at UFC 2 in 1994. Steve Jennum also did this at UFC 3.

No Time to Prepare: Lopes picked up the decision over Ige and bumped his win streak to four in a row. The Brazilian earned his first win on the scorecards since 2019 and just the third in his career.

Smith Is Still Durable: Prevailing over Anthony Smith at the hands of the judges, Roman Dolidze landed 100 sig strikes on his opponent. He had never needed more than 51 in his UFC career to get his hand raised.

Like a Thanksgiving Turkey: Macy Chiasson carved up Mayra Bueno Silva with an elbow to force a medical intervention in the second round. By taking home a “Performance of the Night” check, she is the 10th fighter in UFC history to pocket bonus money after snaring a doctor stoppage victory.

Out-Paged Page: Outworking Michael Page to claim a decision, Ian Garry boosted his unbeaten record to 15-0. The Irishman has commenced his UFC run at 8-0, making him the fourth welterweight to go on this type of win streak. Georges St. Pierre, Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards are the first three.

Nice Knockout: In 85 seconds, Joe Pyfer laid waste to Marc-Andre Barriault with a volley of punches. “Bodybagz” saw his knockout rate jump to 69%, while he has finished his opponent in 92% of his wins overall.

Killer, Cub: Since debuting in the UFC in 2011, “Killer” Cub Swanson has engaged in seven bouts earning “Fight of the Night” awards, following his close split decision loss to Andre Fili. Five fighters in organizational history have landed more, with Edson Barboza and Dustin Poirier sharing the lead at 10 apiece.

Forfeited His Bonus and Everything: After missing weight by 1.5 pounds, Jean Silva plunked Charles Jourdain with one punch in the second round. “Lord” has seen all but one of his pro victories end inside the distance, with the lion’s share coming via strikes.

Kid’s Got Skills: Payton Talbott needed 19 seconds to ice Yanis Ghemmouri and lift his undefeated record to 9-0. By earning his eighth stoppage as a professional, Talbott procured the second-fastest finish in UFC bantamweight history, behind Erik Perez crushing Ken Stone in 17 seconds in 2012.

No Flier Left Behind: Ahead of his encounter with Ghemmouri, Talbott closed as an astronomical -1800 betting favorite. He ties Bo Nickal against Jamie Pickett at UFC 285 as the second-highest favored fighter in UFC history. Alexander Romanov’s -2000 odds before facing Chase Sherman at UFC on ESPN 35 are the greatest.

The Karate Mom: After falling short to Gillian Robertson by decision, Michelle Waterson-Gomez retired. The former Invicta Fighting Championships atomweight queen never vied for a belt in the UFC. Despite that, the perennial 115-pound contender celebrates wins over names including Angela Hill, Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Paige VanZant.

What a Run: Unable to get past Martin Buday, Andrei Arlovski dropped his fourth fight in a row, losing by split decision. The Belarusian entered his 44th UFC bout, setting him alone in second place behind Jim Miller (46). If this is his last UFC fight, he says farewell to a company where he holds the second-most wins (23), the third-most wins on the scorecards (12) and the most cage time of any heavyweight by several hours.

Been Fighting Since He Was Negative Numbers: Arlovski made his UFC debut against Aaron Brink at UFC 28 in 2000, winning by first-round armbar. At that time, fellow UFC 303 competitor Rei Tsuruya was over 19 months away from being born.

18 to Life: The loss for Arlovski is his 18th, dating back to when Ricco Rodriguez knocked him out at UFC 32. He, Jeremy Stephens and Clay Guida are all tied for the lead in this category.

Japan Makes a Move: Tsuruya climbed to 10-0 with a win on the scorecards over Carlos Hernandez. The 22-year-old from Japan posts 80% of his wins via decision.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC 303, neither Lopes nor Ige had ever competed above 150 pounds, M. Silva (15 fights) and Jourdain (23 fights) had never been knocked out and Ghemmouri (14 fights) and Hernandez (12 fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts.

Canned Music: Ahead of his championship battle with Glover Teixeira, Prochazka walked to the cage accompanied by “Legends Are Made” by Sam Tinnesz. Unlike the Teixeira fight, Prochazka lost a crushing defeat at the hands and foot of Pereira.

Brazilians Got Over It: Once one of the most frequently used walkout artists, Barriault picked Linkin Park’s “Bleed It Out” ahead of his pairing with Pyfer. Barriault lost after serving as the first fighter to select this band since two competitors did at UFC 263 in 2021.