The UFC’s second pay-per-view event of 2024 took place on Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. UFC 298 featured an exciting matchup in the featherweight division, resulting in a changing of the guard.
In the main event, Ilia Topuria emerged as the new featherweight champion by fulfilling his promise to knock out Alexander Volkanovski. Topuria secured the victory in the second round, claiming the gold.
Let’s delve into some notable statistics from the event. The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payout for UFC 298 amounted to $243,000. Additionally, Topuria, Anthony Hernandez, Zhang Mingyang, Amanda Lemos, and Mackenzie Dern received $50,000 fight-night bonuses.
Debuting fighters on the card had a record of 3-2. The event drew an announced attendance of 18,186, generating a live gate of $7,264,734. Betting favorites had a dominant performance, going 11-1 on the card.
Topuria’s triumph made him the 14th undefeated, undisputed UFC champion. He also became the fifth undisputed UFC featherweight champion and the first champion from Georgia in UFC history. With a six-fight winning streak in the featherweight division, Topuria possesses the second-longest active streak in the division, trailing only Movsar Evloev.
Volkanovski, on the other hand, has experienced a downturn in his recent fights, with a record of 1-3 in his last four outings. Three of his four career losses have come by knockout.
Moving on to the middleweight division, Robert Whittaker has been impressive since transitioning to the UFC in 2014. With a record of 13-3, Whittaker has earned 11 of his 16 UFC victories by decision.
Paulo Costa, however, has suffered two of his three career losses by decision. In the welterweight division, Ian Machado Garry holds the longest active winning streak with seven victories. Geoff Neal has faced defeat in three of his four UFC fights, all by decision.
In the bantamweight division, Merab Dvalishvili boasts a remarkable nine-fight winning streak, the longest active streak in the division. Dvalishvili has secured 13 of his 17 career victories by decision, including nine of his 10 UFC wins. His 66 takedowns landed in UFC bantamweight competition are the most in divisional history.
Henry Cejudo’s bantamweight record stands at 7-2, with three of his four career losses coming by decision. Anthony Hernandez has a five-fight winning streak in the middleweight division, tied for the second-longest active streak in the division.
Hernandez has finished 10 of his 12 career victories by stoppage, with four of his six UFC wins coming by submission. Roman Kopylov has struggled in his recent fights, going 4-3 in his last six after starting his career with eight consecutive wins.
Moving to the strawweight division, Amanda Lemos holds the record for the most knockdowns with six in UFC competition. Mackenzie Dern has suffered four of her five career losses by decision. Her six fight-night bonuses for UFC strawweight bouts are tied for the second-most in divisional history.
In the heavyweight division, Marcos Rogerio de Lima has a solid record of 8-4 in the UFC. He has finished 18 of his 22 career victories by stoppage, including a notable finish stemming from leg kicks.
Junior Tafa experienced his first stoppage loss in his career, suffering a TKO defeat. Zhang Mingyang has an impressive record of 17-6, with all 17 victories coming by stoppage, 16 of which were in the first round.
Brendson Ribeiro has faced defeat in five of his six career losses, all by stoppage. Danny Barlow has earned six of his eight career victories by stoppage. Josh Quinlan suffered consecutive losses after starting his career with a seven-fight unbeaten streak, and he experienced his first stoppage loss with a TKO defeat.
Val Woodburn has also suffered consecutive losses after an undefeated start to his career. Lastly, Andrea Lee is currently on a four-fight losing skid, which is tied for the longest of her career. She has landed 21 takedowns in UFC women’s flyweight competition, tied for the second-most in divisional history.
Lee has suffered seven of her eight career losses by decision, including all of her UFC losses.
According to the Source mmajunkie.usatoday.com