Fight Facts: UFC 269 ‘Oliveira vs. Poirier’

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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: 6,421
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 588

The Ultimate Fighting Championship did not disappoint in its final blockbuster card of the year, putting on a show worthy of “Event of the Year” consideration. Dramatic finishes, shocking moment and legacy-defining performances showed out in spades for a wild event that rarely saw a dull moment. UFC 269 featured an upset for the ages, the firm grip on a 155-pound throne and a bountiful buffet of bonuses.

Breaking Open the Piggy Bank: At night’s end, the UFC awarded seven post-fight awards for eight checks of $50,000 each. While “Fight of the Night” went to Dominick Cruz vs. Pedro Munhoz, six finishers — Charles Oliveira, Julianna Pena, Kai Kara France, Sean O'Malley, Tai Tuivasa and Bruno Silva — earned “Performance of the Night” bonuses. The $400,000 awarded in bonuses is the highest delivered this year, but trails UFC 129’s $516,000.

Inflation in the Cage: The eight post-fight bonuses at UFC 269 ties the record for the most in UFC history, as “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 9 Finale also saw eight bonuses awarded at night’s end. Those checks in 2009 were only for $25,000, however.

Twenty Olives: Oliveira cemented his place as the top lightweight in the world by submitting Dustin Poirier with a standing rear-naked choke. The win is Oliveira’s 20th on the UFC roster, becoming the ninth man in promotional history to amass that many victories.

At Age 32: Of those 20 triumphs for Oliveira, an incredible 18 have come by stoppage, thereby extending his lead for the most in the history of the company. Donald Cerrone is the only other fighter with more than 15, as “Cowboy” has finished 16 UFC foes, including Oliveira.

Continues to Rumble in Do Bronx: Fifteen of Oliveira’s 18 finish wins inside the Octagon have come by some form of submission. “Do Bronx” continues to put space between himself and the rest of the pack, with only Jim Miller (10), Royce Gracie (10) and Demian Maia (11) recording double-digit subs under the UFC banner.

Back-Taking Master: A third of Oliveira’s submission wins as a UFC fighter have ended by rear-naked choke, with Saturday’s being his first in nearly three years. The champion finds himself tied with Antonio Carlos Jr., Michael Chiesa and Mickey Gall for the third-most rear-naked chokes in UFC history. Kenny Florian (seven) and Maia (eight) hold the top spots.

A Tale of Two Careers: Before going on his remarkable 10-fight win streak, Oliveira posted a UFC record of 10-8 with a no contest. His current stretch of 10 victories in a row makes him the 13th fighter in UFC history to achieve this distinction.

Cashin’ Checks and Chokin’ Necks: Oliveira earned one of the six POTN awards for his work in the main event. The Brazilian champion ties Cerrone at 18 for the most all-time. Twelve of Oliveira’s 18 post-fight bonus awards came from POTN, which is his record by a wide margin.

But Does It Pass GSP-Serra? As a +700 betting underdog coming into her title challenge, Pena secured the biggest betting upset of the year by tapping out Amanda Nunes. It is the most substantial UFC upset by the betting line since a +900 Shana Dobson thrashed Mariya Agapova at UFC on ESPN 15 in 2020.

Good Luck: Pena became the fifth woman to hold the undisputed bantamweight belt when she toppled Nunes. No UFC women’s division has seen more than five different unique champs, as there have also been five champs at 115 pounds.

Low Bar to Clear: Pena’s back-to-back rear-naked chokes already places her with the second-most submission wins in UFC women’s bantamweight history. Nunes, Sara McMann, Raquel Pennington and Marion Reneau are all in that spot together with Pena with two apiece. Ronda Rousey stands above with three.

TUF Dynasty: From the five women to win their respective season of “TUF” – Pena, Carla Esparza, Tatiana Suarez, Nicco Montano and Macy Chiasson – Season 18’s Pena is the third to capture a UFC title.

No More Worlds to Conquer: Nunes tried and failed to defend her bantamweight belt for the sixth time, falling short to Pena. As a result, Rousey’s bantamweight record of six in a row stays intact, and Rousey and Valentina Shevchenko are tied for the highest number of consecutive women’s title defenses with six each.

Like Flipping a Switch: Succumbing to a first-round knockout at the hands of Kai Kara France, Cody Garbrandt was knocked down twice before the finish materialized. In his first six UFC fights, he scored eight knockdowns and won them all. In his last six, he has been dropped seven times while winning just once.

Strength of Schedule: Dispatching Raulian Paiva late into the first round, Sean O’Malley has now upped his finish rate to 84%. Having now recorded five knockouts in the Octagon, “Sugar” joins Eddie Wineland, Rob Font and Marlon Vera for the second-most knockouts in 135-pound history. The tally of seven atop the leaderboard is held by T.J. Dillashaw.

The Wrestler’s Dilemma: As he dropped Dan Ige once in the first round en route to capturing a decision, Josh Emmett recorded his 11th knockdown as a featherweight. He ties former foe Jeremy Stephens for the 145-pound UFC record, and both Emmett and Stephens knocked the other down once when they met in 2018.

Monetary Munhoz: Taking home FOTN for his losing battle with Cruz, Munhoz pocketed his seventh post-fight bonus on the UFC roster. The only bantamweight with more is Dillashaw, who has earned eight bonus checks in his UFC tenure.

All in Favor of “Shoeyvasa”: Tuivasa now posts a 92% knockout rate after smashing Augusto Sakai 26 seconds into the second frame. It marked the first stoppage win for the Aussie beyond the opening frame.

Blinding Speed: Bruno Silva succeeded in notching his seventh knockout victory in a row when he blew Jordan Wright out in 88 seconds. “Blindado” posts a career knockout rate of 86%, and he has never pulled off a submission as a pro.

My Cannon is Made of Glass: Falling victim to Silva’s strikes early into the fight, Wright has still has never fought beyond the 5:48 mark in his professional career. Win or lose, 11 of his 15 fights have concluded within two minutes of the first frame.

Wrenching Up the Leaderboard: By submitting Eryk Anders at UFC 269, Andre Muniz has already placed himself with the second-most armbar wins (three) in UFC history alongside six other names including Rousey and Fabricio Werdum. Demetrious Johnson’s four is the record.

Seventh Heaven: Grounding Miranda Maverick seven times across their 15-minute encounter, Erin Blanchfield tied the record for the most takedowns in a UFC women’s flyweight fight. Gina Mazany, Lara Procopio and Valentina Shevchenko all hit seven within the last 13 months.

Good Grappler vs. Great Grappler: Try as he might, Ryan Hall could not submit Darrick Minner in their featherweight contest. Although Hall settled for the decision triumph, he did tie the division’s record of seven submission attempts in a 145-pound fight held by Chas Skelly and Damon Jackson.

Glaring Weakness: Tony Kelley took Randy Costa later into a fight than any opponent, as he secured the stoppage of Costa at 4:15 of Round 2. All of Costa’s victories have come in the first round, while all of his defeats have taken place in the second.

No Respect for the Redhead: By submitting Priscila Cachoeira in the first round, unranked Gillian Robertson now holds or exceeded several records in the division’s short history. She has engaged in the most fights (11), won the second-most bouts (seven), and she celebrates the most finishes (six) and the most submissions (five) at women’s flyweight in the UFC.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC 269, Paiva had never been stopped with strikes (24 fights, one doctor stoppage TKO); Ige (19 fights), Maverick (12 fights) and Costa (eight fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts and Anders had never been submitted (20 fights).

She Can Make Everything Magical: Pena picked “Psycho” by Puddle of Mudd as her walkout tune, and she did the unthinkable by submitting Nunes. No recorded fighter had ever used a song from this oft-maligned early 2000s rock band.

Come on, Bam Bam, Let’s Go Party: Never disappointing with his walkout game, Tuivasa entered the T-Mobile Arena with “Barbie Girl” by Aqua playing behind him as the first UFC fighter to do so. “Bam Bam” prevailed by knockout and consumed several beers out of shoes on the way out.

It’s Ok to Lose People: For the first time in nearly six months, a UFC fighter walked out to a song by Eminem. Muniz tempted fate with “Lose Yourself” and recorded a very rare win after using the track, and he is only the second fighter this year to win after walking out to Eminem.