Men's General

The UFC, fittingly, is bringing the heat to Miami this weekend as the organization returns to the city for the second time in the past 11 months for Saturday’s stacked UFC 299 card.

Ascending superstar “Suga” Sean O’Malley is set for his first bantamweight title defence when he faces Marlon “Chito” Vera in an anticipated main event rematch 3.5 years in the making.

The first bout happened in a near-empty UFC Apex, the same venue in which O’Malley had his 2017 star-making performance on Dana White’s Contender Series with Snoop Dogg on the call. 

Instead of dozens of cheering fans, as was the case in those Apex outings, the energy Saturday night at Kaseya Center will be boisterous to say the least, but don’t expect that to intimidate the confident champ. 

“I’m able to go with the flow and kind of be at peace with whatever happens, so go make the walk, do what I need to do which is stay calm, be ready to kill,” O’Malley told Sportsnet this week about staying composed during his walks to the cage.

O’Malley ranks first in the bantamweight division in significant strike accuracy (61.2 per cent), significant strikes landed per minute (7.25), strike differential (+3.89) and has earned performance bonuses in each of his past eight victories, including when he knocked out Aljamain Sterling to win the title at UFC 292 last summer.

Vera will join Pedro Munhoz, a former opponent of both Vera’s and O’Malley’s, as the only other fighter in UFC history with 20 appearances in the men’s bantamweight division. Vera already holds the men’s bantamweight record with 10 finishes, one of which was his previous win over O’Malley. All eight of Vera’s pro MMA losses dating back to 2013 have come via decision. All except four of O’Malley’s career wins have come inside the distance.

How will kicking and coaching factor in?

The most impactful moment of the first fight was when Vera landed a hard leg kick early that significantly affected O’Malley’s peroneal nerve and mobility in his right leg. It was a contributing factor to Vera earning a technical knockout win and handing O’Malley his first and only loss in mixed martial arts.

The two fighters recently sat down to review the first bout. 

It’s fair to say O’Malley, 29, has made more improvements than Vera, 31, since the first fight, however both fighters have refined their craft and added an equal number of wins to their records since last meeting inside the cage.

The rematch is scheduled for five rounds and this could mean new territory for the champion if it goes beyond 15 minutes. O’Malley has never seen a fourth round, while Vera has gone into the championship rounds in three of his past four outings.

“Chito’s never been finished and that’s the challenge we’re super excited for,” O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch said on UFC 299 Embedded. “We’re planning on finishing him and I’m super confident Sean’s gonna be able to put this kid away.”

Another key subplot in this title fight is the top-tier coaching matchup.  

Jason Parillo is in Vera’s corner and Welch in O’Malley’s.

“He’s firing, he’s strong,” Parillo told Embedded. “He’s got big punches, big kicks. He’s like a donkey with those kicks. He’s got some leverage on those bad boys.”

Parillo has helped the likes of B.J. Penn, Michael Bisping, Cris Cyborg and Rafael dos Anjos, who fights Mateusz Gamrot on the UFC 299 preliminary card, become UFC champions in years past. Will Vera be the next champion under Parillo’s tutelage?

“He lives and breathes fighting,” Parillo added. “He’s in such good shape, he takes such good care of himself. You pay attention, you study the way Chito lives his life, that’s the way you want to live your life if you want to be a successful fighter.”

Is BSD the next big thing at lightweight?

The co-main event might not have a title on the line, but it is also scheduled for 25 minutes instead of 15. The five-round matchup has implications in both the 155-pound division as well as the unofficial BMF power rankings. Fan favourite Dustin Poirier meets Benoit Saint Denis, who hopes to maintain his 100 per cent finishing rate.

Poirier lost via knockout to Justin Gaethje last July in his most recent fight, which was for the BMF belt. Poirier is one of the best lightweights of his era and is known for always being willing to go out on his shield. His multiple wars of attrition with Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, Max Holloway, Conor McGregor, as well as his classic battles with Dan Hooker and Michael Chandler, have earned him a permanent place in UFC lightweight lore.

Saint Denis is about to take a huge step up in competition. However, stylistically, he pairs well with an all-action fighter like Poirier. The French southpaw specifically mentioned Poirier’s 2022 bout with Chandler as a potentially comparable style matchup.

Revenge, rematches a feature of Yan vs. Yadong

Bantamweight Song Yadong is set to face former champion Petr Yan to kick off the main card. Two durable fighters with aggressive styles and effective hands looking to work back into the title conversation in 2024. What’s not to like? 

Yan has dropped four of his past five, including when he lost the title to Aljamain Sterling via disqualification three years ago — a result that completely altered the trajectory of this division. Before that, Yan knocked out Urijah Faber during his seven-fight win streak that began his UFC career. Faber has since retired but currently serves as one of Yadong’s coaches. Yan’s win over Faber vaulted him into a title fight and he later became the 135-pound champion. 

Yadong has not faced the level of competition Yan has, however the younger fighter does hold a 2020 victory over Saturday’s title challenger and sees a way where if both he and Vera emerge victorious then a potentially accelerated path to a title shot awaits.

“If Chito wins, I’d love to kick his ass again,” Yadong said Wednesday. 

Yan has not drifted too far from the title picture despite only having one win in the past four years. One was a DQ and two were split decisions that could’ve, and some might argue should’ve, gone Yan’s way. One of those splits was to O’Malley in a terrific three-round bout that theoretically could warrant rematch over five rounds one day.

Welterweights flying under the radar

The most recent time the UFC held an event in Miami was UFC 287 in April of last year. Welterweights Gilbert Burns and Kevin Holland were among the winning fighters that night and both are set to compete on the UFC 299 main card.

Burns will attempt to snap Jack Della Maddalena’s 16-fight winning streak, while Holland welcomes former Bellator MMA star Michael “Venom” Page to the UFC. Della Maddalena has wins over Holland and Randy Brown but getting by a former title challenger like Burns would break him into the upper echelon of 170-pounders.

Page’s addition to the UFC could bring with it plenty of exciting matchups. He is automatically the new X-Factor in the division and a win over Holland puts him in the mix. 

The 170-pound division hasn’t seen too much movement so far this year, but the weight class is in for an exciting remainder of 2024. Leon Edwards is the defending champion with the likes of Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov closing in on title shots and others hoping to enter the fray.

Bantamweight title defences are tough to come by

Amanada Nunes might’ve made it look easy on the women’s side, but the men’s bantamweight belt has changed hands an average of once per year over the past decade. In fact, Sterling is the only men’s 135-pound champion to defend the title in consecutive bouts in the past nine years.

If O’Malley is defeated by Vera, he’d join Petr Yan and Cody Garbrandt as the only bantamweight titleholders to not successfully defend a title at least one time.

Barring some unforeseen circumstances, Merab Dvalishvili will face the winner of Saturday’s main event. The streaking Georgian is also set to serve as the official backup fighter for UFC 299’s title bout. The 33-year-old will weigh in Friday morning along with the 28 fighters scheduled to compete on the 14-fight card and could be available to step in on short notice if either O’Malley or Vera were unable to compete.

14 fights, 14 flags 

If all 14 matchups currently scheduled to take place Saturday night hold up then there will be an average of one unique country represented per bout. The United States (8), Brazil (6), Poland (2), Ecuador, France, England, Australia, Russia, China, Moldova, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Scotland and Ukraine all have at least one fighter represented on the card giving it quite the international feel.

Here is a complete look at the projected UFC 299 lineup:

MAIN CARD

— Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera

— Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint Denis

— Kevin Holland vs. Michael Page

— Gilbert Burns vs. Jack Della Maddalena      

— Petr Yan vs. Song Yadong

PRELIMINARY CARD

— Curtis Blaydes vs. Jailton Almeida

— Katlyn Cerminara vs. Maycee Barber

— Mateusz Gamrot vs. Rafael dos Anjos         

— Pedro Munhoz vs. Kyler Phillips

— Ion Cutelaba vs. Philipe Lins

— Michel Pereira vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk

— Robelis Despaigne vs. Josh Parisian

— C.J. Vergara vs. Assu Almabayev                                   

— Joanne Wood vs. Maryna Moroz

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