UFC 299: Sean O’Malley puts in performance of a lifetime in one-sided win over Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera

‘Suga’ was a class above in the striking contest, winning nearly every exchange at distance and leaving the challenger a bloodied, battered mess.

“Chito’s as tough as it gets, it feels good to get that one back,” O’Malley said, referencing their first fight in 2020, which Vera won after O’Malley injured his leg.

O’Malley immediately doubled down on his call out of featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.

“Dana, give me a jet to Spain, baby, I want Ilia Topuria,” he said. “Give me Ilia.

“He’s a scary dude. Going up to featherweight excites me, it’s an exciting fight for the people.”

Vera didn’t offer much in the first round, but the fight came alive in the second when O’Malley landed a massive flying knee to Chito’s face. The shot opened a cut on Vera’s cheek, but the Ecuadorean fan favourite brushed it off and kept swinging.

“I felt something in his face break - his nose or cheek - I felt something smack,” O’Malley said of the shot.

O’Malley upped the pace in the third round in an attempt to become the first person to ever stop Vera inside the distance.

Vera grew desperate in the third, allowing O’Malley to showcase his full range of brilliant striking in one of his greatest ever performances.

The Miami crowd was right behind Vera, who turned it into a dogfight knowing he needed a finish in order to win the fight.

An eye injury early in the fifth backed Vera up, as O’Malley closed out a one-sided title defence.

Dustin Poirier isn’t done yet!

UFC veteran Dustin Poirier just sparked out rising hype-machine Benoit Saint Denis in the second round in the co-main event.

The big underdog going into the bout, Poirier silenced his doubters by cracking Saint Denis perfectly placed right hook. The Frenchman dropped to the canvas, before Poirier landed one follow up shot on the ground.

The local favourite was ice-cold in his celebrations, walking to the side of the Octagon and having a conversation with Donald Trump, who was sitting cageside.

It was a wild fight while it lasted, with Saint Denis arguably winning the first round before Poirier’s stunning finish.

“I was getting beat up a little bit, but I got him at the end. Dude, he was pretty strong,” Poirier said.

“I took this fight because he finished his last five opponents and he’s dangerous. I had to take this fight to honour this game - hold your position or lose it.”

Earlier, Michael ‘Venom’ Page made his long-awaited UFC debut with a unanimous decision win over Kevin Holland. MVP’s unique striking was on full display in the one-sided, if lacklustre display.

Jack Della’s wild comeback KO

Jack Della Maddalena will fly up the welterweight rankings this week after a stunning comeback knockout win over Brazilian veteran Gilbert Burns at UFC 299 in Miami.

With the fight hanging in the balance entering the third round, Della Maddalena escaped a submission attempt from Burns, rattled ‘Durinho’ with a flying knee and pummeled him with relentless ground and pound.

It took an age for referee Dan Miragliotta to intervene and stop the fight, allowing Burns to take some unnecessary extra punishment.

Burns remained lying flat on his back for well over three minutes getting medical attention as Della was announced the winner.

Ranked 11th in the division going into the weekend, Della Maddalena will likely enter the top five, and immediately called out another rising star.

“The plan was to come here, grab the cash and dash,” Della Maddalena said afterwards. “There’s some scary people in this division, but I’m the f***ing scariest.

“Shavkat Rakhmanov, me and you would make a hell of a title eliminator. One of the best in the business, let’s go.”

Moments after former US president Donald Trump took a cageside seat, Della Maddalena walked out to AC/DC’s T. N. T before the pro-Burns crowd started chanting his name when the bout began.

The Brazilian showed his confidence and class to land his first take-down a minute into the opening round, but Della Maddalena quickly worked his way back to his feet.

One of the welterweight division’s best boxers, Della Maddalena got to work with his striking as the opening frame wore on, switching between stances, countering brilliantly and attacking Burns’ body.

The Perth fighter was likely winning the first round until Burns landed a second take-down with 10 seconds left.

The second round was a battle of Della Maddalena’s clean striking and Burns throwing with maximum power, before ‘Durinho’ landed another take-down in the final minute.

‘Giacomo’ scrambled well, but Burns finished the round with Della in a body triangle.

Needing to win the third to give himself a chance of winning the fight, the West Australian stalked Burns down, and had the 27-year-old shelling up and backing towards the cage.

Only a desperate take-down saw Burns escape danger, but he was left with a badly bleeding nose.

Just as it looked as though Burns would ride out his dominant position until the final bell and claim a win, Maddalena escaped, and just seconds later, had his hands raised in the air.

Burns was likely just moments away from winning the fight, with the veteran up by two rounds to nothing on two of three scorecards at the time of the stoppage.

Online, the reaction to the slow stoppage was rapid, with fans calling out Miragliotta.

Donald Trump arrives

Donald Trump just rolled into the arena in Miami.

The former US president took a break from the campaign trail to attend the fights. Trump has become something of a regular at UFC PPVs, sitting Octagon-side at fights in Las Vegas, New York and Miami numerous times over the past few years.

Petr Yan back to winning ways

Petr Yan has snapped his three-fight losing streak, recording his first victory in two-and-a-half years with a come-from-behind unanimous decision win over Song Yadong in the first fight of the PPV card.

Round one was a good one for Yadong, but Yan worked his way into the bout in the second in a highly technical, back-and-forth battle.

The win – which should be in the running as fight of the night – keeps Yan in the hunt for another title shot in the future.

Prior to UFC 299, the Russian had lost three in a row against Aljamain Sterling, Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili.

Curits Blaydes’ big comeback

Curtis ‘Razor’ Blaydes just scored a wild second round knockout of Jailton Almeida in the heavyweight prelim headliner.

Almeida absolutely dominated the opening round, landing seven take-downs as the crowd launched into a chorus of boos at the boring action.

When the Brazilian attempted yet another take-down early in the second, Blaydes stuffed it, before laying into Almeida with some brutal hammer-fists.

Almieda refused to let Blaydes’ leg go, and was KO’d 36 seconds into the round for his mistake.

The finish was so sudden and against the run of play that commentators Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier were puzzles about how it happened.

It’s the first loss of the much-hyped Almeida’s career, while Blaydes called out interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.

1:15pm – Poland’s Mateusz Gamrot is eyeing up a lightweight title shot after outpointing Rafael dos Anjos.

Mateusz was rattled by the former 155-pound champion early on, but fought back well for a nice – if underwhelming – unanimous decision victory.

Ion Cutelaba’s ugly injury

Ion Cutelaba went a full 15 minutes with Felipe Lins despite suffering a gruesome leg injury early on.

Cutelaba could barely put any pressure on his left leg after taking some brutal low kicks. Nasty welts appeared on Cutelaba’s shin as the bout wore on.

Still, the light-heavyweight veteran remained dangerous, hurting Lins on a few occasions, before the Brazilian scored a unanimous decision win.

Robelis Despaigne scores thunderous knockout win

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Robelis Despaigne. The Cuban slugger just recorded the second fastest heavyweight debut in UFC history by battering Josh Parisian in just 18 seconds.

Despaigne, who is now 5-0 as a professional, has only had one fight last longer, after winning his previous three bouts in four, three and 12 seconds respectively.

The 35-year-old landed two big right hands on Parisian in the opening seconds, before slipping when he attempted a high kick.

Parisian rushed forwards, but was dropped with a left-right combo as Despaigne retreated. Ground and pound forced the fight to be stopped moments later.

The wild finishes continued just moments later when Michel Pereira knocked down, then choked out Michal Oleksiejczuk.

Middleweight star Pereira needed just 61 seconds before referee Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight.

It was a body shot that spelled the beginning of the end for Oleksiejczuk. Pereira landed two nice knees, before locking in the fight-winning choke.

10:30am – Scottish veteran Jo Wood has retired a winner after scoring a nailbiting win over Maryna Moroz in the first fight of the night.

Wood, who announced the bout would be her last in the UFC, landed a stunning third-round spinning backfist which stunned Moroz. Wood went looking for the finish, and nearly had it, before claiming a split decision win.

Here’s everything you need to know about UFC 299.

UFC 299 Fight Card and results

Here’s the full UFC 299 fight card

PPV

Sean O’Malley def Marlon Vera via UD
Dustin Poirier def Benoit Saint Denis via Rd 2 KO
Michael “Venom” Page def Kevin Holland via UD
Jack Della Maddalena def Gilbert Burns via Rd 3 KO
Petr Yan def Song Yadong via UD

Prelims

Curtis Blaydes def Jailton Almeida via Rd 2 KO
Maycee Barber def Katlyn Cerminara via UD
Mateusz Gamrot vs. Rafael dos Anjos – Lightweight
Kyler Phillips def Pedro Munhoz via UD

Early Prelims

Philipe Lins def Ion Cutelaba via UD
Michel Pereira def Michal Oleksiejczuk via Rd 1 sub
Robelis Despaigne def Josh Parisian via Rd 1 KO
Assu Almabayev def C.J. Vergara via UD
Joanne Wood def Maryna Moroz via SD

How Sean O’Malley could ruin Volk’s comeback plans

One of the biggest threats to Alexander Volkanovski’s hopes of booking a rematch with Ilia Topuria could come in the form of a skinny 135-pounder with a mop of bright blue and purple curls and hot pink fight trunks.

That man is ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley.

UFC 299: O’MALLEY VS VERA 2 | SUN 10 MAR | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports. Main Event on Kayo Sports and Foxtel is the new exclusive home of UFC Pay-Per-View events!

He defends his bantamweight world title against longtime rival Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 299 in Miami this weekend, but has already hinted at plans on moving up to featherweight.

Topuria, who toppled Volkanovski and claimed the featherweight belt last month, has gone back and forth with O’Malley on social media in the past, and a potential champion vs. champion showdown would be big business for the UFC.

Speaking to this masthead just days ahead of his first title defence, O’Malley rated a Topuria super-fight as the top of his list of dream match-ups.

“I have so many options right now – Ilia, Corey (Sandhagen), Merab (Dvalishvili), even boxing,” he said. “I can keep making bantamweight for a while, but if I go up and fight Ilia, I believe I can knock him out.

“He’s a scary little dude, and that fight excites me

“It would be a fun challenge, and it could very well happen next.”

First though, the flamboyant O’Malley must get past ‘Chito’ in a rematch of their bizarre first showdown in 2021().

Vera won that fight via TKO after kicking O’Malley in the leg and causing debilitating nerve damage.

O’Malley is adamant he didn’t really lose that fight, instead calling it payback for dying his hair red, blue and yellow – the colours of the flag of Vera’s native Ecuador.

“That was karma, that’s why my nerve got kicked,” he said. “I was like, ‘goddamnit, I knew I shouldn’t have done that’

“I won’t do that again.”

O’Malley went on a tear after that fight, culminating in clinical knockout of Aljamain Sterling to win the bantamweight title last year.

Meanwhile, Vera has never been stopped in the UFC, and has fought a who’s who of lighter weight fighters.

Still, O’Malley is adamant ‘Chito’ is only getting a shot at the belt because of their history.

“He’s fought Dominic Cruz, Corey Sandhagen, Frankie Edgar, Jose Aldo – he’s fought legends,” O’Malley said of Vera. “But he squeezed past Pedro Munhoz last time out, so it’s not a secret or a surprise that I’m gifting him this title shot.

“I went out and had a beautiful performance against Aljo – the greatest bantamweight of all time, and the most dangerous fighter in the division for me – then I asked if I could get this fight.

“It will be a bit of closure for everyone.”

O’Malley won’t tempt fate again by mocking Ecuador this time around.

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Instead, he’ll wear a pair of hot pink fight trunks, breaking with the tradition of fighters donning standard issue blue, red, black or green fight kits.

He hopes it starts a trend in the UFC, and has urged other champions to start doing the same thing.

“I’m defending the title, it’s my first defence and we’re in Miami,” O’Malley said. “It just makes sense as part of the show and part of the entertainment and the UFC were on board with it.”