The UFC kicks off another two-event week on Wednesday with UFC Fight Night 45 from Atlantic City’s Revel Casino Hotel. The FOX Sports 1-televised event sees two of USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie’s top-15 ranked lightweights go to battle as No. 12 Donald Cerrone (23-6 MMA, 10-3 UFC) and No. 13 Jim Miller (24-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) attempt to continue climbing up the ranks toward a title shot.

The intriguing matchup pits two of the most successful 155-pound fighters in the history of major North American MMA organizations against one another. Miller shares a hold in the UFC lightweight wins record while Cerrone is the all-time wins leader when merging UFC and WEC lightweight history.

Also on the card, a fighter goes for a win in his third weight class, and one of the most successful takedowns artists in company history continues his chase of a longstanding record. For more information on the event, here at 65 pre-fight facts for UFC Fight Night 45.

MAIN EVENT

Cerrone, with a victory, can become the second UFC fighter to earn three wins in 2014. Welterweight Neil Magny was first to accomplish the feat.

Cerrone will compete in his 24th UFC/WEC lightweight bout, the most of any fighter in the combined history of the two organizations.

Cerrone has earned 10 victories in UFC lightweight competition, tied for the fourth most of any fighter in company history. His 16 victories in UFC/WEC lightweight competition are the most in the combined history of the two organizations.

Cerrone has finished 11 opponents in UFC/WEC lightweight fights, tied with Nate Diaz for the most in the combined history of the two organizations.

Cerrone’s 11 knockdowns landed in UFC/WEC lightweight competition are the second most in the combined history of the two organizations behind Melvin Guillard (13).

Cerrone is one of seven fighters in UFC history to earn two or more knockout victories stemming from a kick to the head.

Cerrone is one of the division’s most active strikers; he lands 4.83 strikes per minute of fighting, the third-best output rate in lightweight history behind Evan Dunham (4.97) and T.J. Grant (6.83). His 50.2 percent significant strike accuracy is the fourth highest in lightweight history.

Cerrone’s eight submission victories in UFC/WEC lightweight competition are the second most in the combined history of the two organizations behind Nate Diaz (nine).

Cerrone usually won’t fight on the ground unless he wants it there. His 87.5 percent takedown defense rate ranks second in lightweight history behind Gleison Tibau (91.8 percent).

Cerrone landed 49 leg kicks landed against Vagner Rocha at UFC 131, the second-most ever in a three-round UFC fight. Thiago Alves holds the record with 52 leg kicks landed against Seth Baczynski at UFC on FOX 11.

Cerrone is one of the UFC’s most consistent fight-night award winners; “Cowboy” has received a fight-night bonus in nine of his 13 UFC bouts.

Cerrone has been awarded 14 fight-night bonuses (totaling $605,000) under the UFC/WEC banner, the most of any fighter in the combined history of the two organizations.

Cerrone is the only fighter in UFC history to win a “Fight of the Night,” “Knockout of the Night,” “Submission of the Night,” and “Performance of the Night” fight-night bonus during his career.

Miller will compete in his 18th UFC lightweight bout, the fourth most of any fighter in divisional history behind Guillard (20), Gleison Tibau (20) and Yves Edwards (19).

Miller is tied with Tibau as the record-holder for most lightweight victories in UFC history with 13.

Miller’s eight stoppage victories in UFC lightweight competition are tied for the third most in divisional history behind B.J. Penn (nine) and Joe Lauzon (nine).

Miller’s six submission finishes in UFC lightweight competition are the fourth most in divisional history behind Lauzon (seven), Diaz (seven) and Kenny Florian (seven). Overall, Miller has earned 14 of his 24 professional wins by submission.

Miller’s has attempted 31 submissions in his UFC career, the most in lightweight history and tied with Chris Lytle for the most of any fighter to ever step in the octagon overall.

Miller attempts 2.7 submission attempts per 15 minutes of fighting, a rate that ranks in the top five among active UFC fighters with at least five bouts.

CO-MAIN EVENT

Edson Barboza’s (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) seven knockdowns landed in UFC lightweight competition are tied for the fourth most in divisional history behind Melvin Guillard (13), Yves Edwards (eight) and Michael Johnson (eight).

Barboza is the only fighter in UFC history to earn two knockout victories stemming from leg kicks. He used the technique to stop Rafaello Oliveira at UFC 162 and Mike Lullo at UFC 123.

Barboza has earned three knockouts in UFC competition stemming from kicks, tying Vitor Belfort for the most finishes stemming from a kick technique in UFC history.

Barboza has landed 35.1% of his 348 significant strikes to his opponents’ legs, the fifth largest proportion of leg strikes among active UFC.

Barboza has defended 83.3 percent of all takedown attempts in UFC lightweight competition, the sixth highest defense rate in divisional history among fighters with at least five bouts and 20 opponent attempts.

Evan Dunham (14-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) is 3-5 in his past eight UFC appearances. He enters the event with just one win in his past four octagon appearances.

Dunham has landed 701 significant strikes during his UFC career, the third most of any lightweight in history behind Sam Stout (965) and Frankie Edgar (767).

Dunham averages 4.97 significant strikes landed per minute of fighting, the second highest output rate of any lightweight in UFC history with at least five bouts behind Grant (6.83).

Dunham’s 79.7 percent takedown defense rate ranks sixth in lightweight history.

REMAINING MAIN CARD

Rick Story (16-8 MMA, 9-6 UFC) has alternated losses and wins over his past seven UFC appearances. He has not won consecutive fights since a six-fight winning streak from 2009-2001 that included wins over 170-pound champion Johny Hendricks and former No. 1 contender Thiago Alves.

Story has earned six of his nine UFC victories by decision. Oppositely, he has suffered seven of his eight career losses by decision.

Story’s 35 takedowns landed in his UFC career are the third most among active welterweights and the seventh most in divisional history.

Story’s 634 significant strikes landed in his UFC career are the second most among active welterweight fighters and fifth most in welterweight history. Defensively, his 66.1 percent significant strike defense rate ranks second among active 170-pound fighters and fourth in divisional history.

Leonardo Mafra (11-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) makes his second UFC appearance with a 14-fight disadvantage in UFC experience to his opponent, Story.

John Lineker’s (23-7 MMA, 4-2 UFC) four victories in UFC flyweight competition are tied for the third most in divisional history behind champion Demetrious Johnson (six) and Joseph Benavidez (five).

Lineker’s three knockout victories in flyweight competition are tied with Benavidez and John Dodson for the most in divisional history. His six knockdowns landed are tied with Dodson for the divisional lead.

Lineker’s three overall stoppage wins are tied for second in 125-pound history behind Benavidez (four).

Lineker is one of two fighters in UFC history to score three knockdowns of a single opponent in two different fights, dropping both Phil Harris and Azamat Gashimov on three separate occasions. The other fighter to accomplish the rare feat twice is Anderson Silva, who did so against both Rich Franklin and Forrest Griffin.

Lineker is currently landing 5.26 significant strikes per minute, an output rate that ranks highest in flyweight history and in the top-10 in UFC history among fighters with at least five bouts.

Alptekin Ozkilic (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) landed nine takedowns in his UFC Fight Night 35 defeat to Louis Smolka. “The Turkish Delight” is just one of three fighters in UFC history to land nine-plus takedowns in a fight and go on to lose a decision.

Lucas Martins (14-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has finished his opponent by knockout or submission in 13 of his 14 professional victories.

Martins will compete at featherweight for the first time in his UFC tenure and have the chance to join Diego Sanchez, Kenny Florian and George Roop as the only fighters in history to win UFC fights in three different weight classes. He defeated Jeremy Larsen in a lightweight bout at UFC on FX 8 and dropped to bantamweight to defeat Junior Hernandez at UFC Fight Night 28. With a win, he would be the first to accomplish the feat in consecutive fights.

Martins‘ UFC Fight Night 28 submission of Hernandez at the 1:10 mark of Round 1 marked the fastest submission finish ever by a debuting UFC bantamweight.

Alex White (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has served as an injury replacement in both of his UFC appearances. He stepped in as a short-notice replacement against Estevan Payan at UFC on FOX 11 and won via knockout in 88 seconds.

White’s knockout of Payan at 1:28 of Round 1 tied the record for the third fastest knockout by a debuting featherweight in UFC history. Pablo Garza holds the all-time record with a 51-second finish of Fredson Paixao in his octagon debut at the The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale.

White has earned nine of his 10 professional victories by submission (five) or knockout (four).

PRELIMINARY CARD

Gleison Tibau (28-10 MMA, 13-8 UFC) will compete in the 21st UFC lightweight bout, breaking out of a tie with Melvin Guillard for the most of any fighter in history.

Tibau is tied with Miller for the most victories in UFC lightweight competition with 13.

Tibau has completed 71 takedowns during his UFC career, the most of any lightweight in history and second most of any competitor overall behind Georges St-Pierre (87).

Tibau has never been taken down more than once in a single bout throughout his 21-fight UFC career.

Tibau has defended 91.8 percent of all opponent takedown attempts during his UFC career, the highest takedown defense rate in lightweight history and fifth highest overall in UFC history behind Renan Barao (100 percent), Jon Jones (96.6 percent), Tyron Woodley (95 percent) and Eddie Wineland (92 percent).

Tibau’s total fight time of 3:56:11 in UFC lightweight competition is the most of any fighter in divisional history. His 4:03:38 of fight time overall during his UFC career ranks seventh overall in UFC history.

Tibau enters the event on the heels of his first knockout loss since November 2006. He was stopped by strikes against Michael Johnson at UFC 168 in December.

Pat Healy (29-19 MMA, 0-4 UFC) enters the event on the first three-fight losing streak of his career and is on a four-fight winless streak overall. “Bam Bam” has not earned an official MMA victory since January of this past year.

Healy has suffered 19 professional losses, the second most of any active fighter on the UFC roster behind Yves Edwards (21).

Healy’s seven victories in the now-defunct Strikeforce lightweight division are the third most in history behind former champions Gilbert Melendez (11) and Josh Thomson (10).

Healy’s 28 completed takedowns under the Strikeforce banner are the most in the promotion’s existence.

Healy’s 12 submission attempts in Strikeforce competition were the third most in organizational history.

Jessamyn Duke (3-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) landed 123 significant strikes in her UFC debut against Peggy Morgan at the The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale, the most ever for a debuting UFC fighter.

Leslie Smith (6-5-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) enters the event on the first two-fight losing streak of her career. She has just one victory in her past four professional fights.

Smith has suffered all five of her career losses by decision.

Hugo Viana’s (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) only career loss was a first-round knockout to UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw.

Viana landed three knockdowns of Reuben Duran at The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale, the most ever in a single UFC/WEC bantamweight fight.

Aljamain Sterling (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), 24, is the youngest of the 22 fighters scheduled to compete on the card.

Jerrod Sanders (14-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), 33, is the oldest of the 22 fighters scheduled to compete on the card.

Sanders enters his UFC debut on a 12-fight MMA winning streak.

Glaudia Gadelha (11-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will face Tina Lahdemaki (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in the first ever UFC women’s strawweight bout.

For more on UFC Fight Night 45, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

FightMetric research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.