The UFC’s second pay-per-view of 2024 was a memorable one, with UFC 298 on Saturday at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., seeing a changing of the guard in the featherweight division.
In the main event, Ilia Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) became the new featherweight champion when he delivered on his promise to knock out longtime titleholder Alexander Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC), which he did in the second round of their fight to claim gold.
For more on the numbers to come out of the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC 298.
Event stats
The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payout for the event totaled $243,000.
Topuria, Anthony Hernandez, Zhang Mingyang, Amanda Lemos and Mackenzie Dern earned $50,000 UFC 298 fight-night bonuses.
Debuting fighters went 3-2 on the card.
UFC 298 drew an announced attendance of 18,186 for a live gate of $7,264,734.
Betting favorites went 11-1 on the card.
Betting favorites fell to 3-2 in UFC headliners this year.
Total fight time for the 12-bout card was 2:21:08.
Ilia Topuria def. Alexander Volkanovski
Topuria became the 14th undefeated, undisputed UFC champion.
Topuria became the fifth undisputed UFC featherweight champion.
Topuria became the first Georgian champion in UFC history.
Topuria’s six-fight UFC winning streak at featherweight is the second-longest active streak in the division behind Movsar Evloev (seven).
Topuria has earned 13 of his 15 career victories by stoppage.
Volkanovski fell to 1-3 in his past four fights.
Volkanovski has suffered three of his four career losses by knockout.
Robert Whittaker def. Paulo Costa
Robert Whittaker (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) improved to 13-3 since he moved up to the UFC middleweight division in November 2014.
Whittaker has earned 11 of his 16 UFC victories by decision.
Paulo Costa (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) has suffered two of his three career losses by decision.
Ian Machado Garry def. Geoff Neal
Ian Machado Garry’s (14-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) seven-fight UFC winning streak at welterweight is the longest active streak in the division.
Geoff Neal (15-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) has suffered three of his four UFC losses by decision.
Merab Dvalishvili def. Henry Cejudo
Merab Dvalishvili’s (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) nine-fight UFC winning streak at bantamweight is the longest active streak in the division.
Dvalishvili has earned 13 of his 17 career victories by decision. That includes nine of his 10 UFC wins.
Dvalishvili’s 66 takedowns landed in UFC bantamweight competition are most in divisional history.
Henry Cejudo (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) fell to 7-2 in bantamweight competition during his career.
Cejudo has suffered three of his four career losses by decision.
Anthony Hernandez def. Roman Kopylov
Hernandez’s (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) five-fight UFC winning streak at middleweight is tied for the second-longest active streak in the division behind Dricus Du Plessis (seven).
Hernandez has earned 10 of his 12 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished four of his six UFC victories by submission.
Roman Kopylov (13-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) fell to 4-3 in his past six fights after starting his career 8-0.
Kopylov has suffered two of his three career losses by stoppage.
Amanda Lemos def. Mackenzie Dern
Lemos (14-3-1 MMA, 8-3 UFC) has landed six knockdowns in UFC strawweight competition, the most in divisional history.
Dern (13-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) has suffered four of her five career losses by decision.
Dern’s six fight-night bonuses for UFC strawweight bouts are tied with Rose Namajunas for second-most in divisional history behind Jessica Andrade (nine).
Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Junior Tafa
Marcos Rogerio de Lima (22-9-1 MMA, 11-7 UFC) improved to 8-4 in the UFC when competing at heavyweight.
De Lima has earned 18 of his 22 career victories by stoppage.
De Lima earned the 16th finish in UFC history stemming from leg kicks.
Junior Tafa (5-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) suffered the first stoppage loss of his career with a TKO defeat.
Zhang Mingyang def. Brendson Ribeiro
Mingyang (17-6 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has earned all 17 of his career victories by stoppage. He’s finished 16 of those wins in Round 1.
Brendson Ribeiro (15-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) has suffered five of his six career losses by stoppage.
Danny Barlow def. Josh Quinlan
Danny Barlow (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has earned six of his eight career victories by stoppage.
Josh Quinlan (6-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has suffered consecutive losses after starting his career on a seven-fight unbeaten streak.
Quinlan suffered the first stoppage loss of his career with a TKO defeat.
Oban Elliott def. Val Woodburn
Val Woodburn (7-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC has suffered consecutive losses after starting his career 7-0.
Woodburn suffered the first decision loss of his career.
Miranda Maverick def. Andrea Lee
Andrea Lee’s (13-9 MMA, 5-7 UFC) four-fight losing skid is tied for the longest of her career. She hasn’t earned a victory since November 2021.
Lee has landed 21 takedowns in UFC women’s flyweight competition are tied for second-most in divisional history behind Valentina Shevchenko (39).
Lee has suffered seven of her eight career losses by decision. That includes all of her UFC losses.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
