UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley produced a virtuoso performance in the main event of UFC 299 to register the first defence of his title with a lop-sided decision victory over Ecuador’s Marlon Vera in Miami.
O’Malley settled into a rhythm early and, with Vera slow to get started, the American raced into an early advantage with two dominant rounds. The champ then followed suit in the third as Vera tried in vain to make an impression.
Vera finally came out of his shell in the fourth round as he delivered his best round of the fight, but he was still outstruck by the champion, who looked slick and composed throughout, despite being bloodied up by a Vera flurry.
The pair went toe to toe in a crazy final exchange before the horn sounded to end the fight. But, despite the pair going the distance, there was no suspense regarding the final result, with O’Malley taking the landslide unanimous decision verdict with scores of 50-45, 50-45, 50-44.
After his victory, O’Malley praised Vera for his toughness in the face of a constant barrage of strikes, saying “Chito was as tough as it gets,” then called on UFC CEO Dana White to fly him to Spain to take on newly-crowned featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.
Poirier walks through the fire, KOs Saint-Denis
In the co-main event, former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier added another incredible fight to his remarkable MMA resume with his second-round come-from-behind knockout victory over surging French contender Benoit Saint-Denis.
Such was Saint-Denis’ momentum, the Frenchman entered the Octagon as the favourite with the oddsmakers, and the serviceman ploughed forward relentlessly, connecting with heavy punches, kicks and elbows as he chased a career-defining finish of “The Diamond.”
But Poirier was determined to claim a finish of his own, and it seemed as if he was hell-bent on getting it via guillotine choke. But, despite locking up the hold on multiple occasions, Saint-Denis escaped each time, then rained down heavy shots on Poirier by way of punishment.
After being told by head coach Mike Brown “no more guillotines,” Poirer stunned Saint-Denis early in Round 2, only to jump into another guillotine choke attempt. Once again Saint-Denis escaped and pushed forward throwing heavy shots.
But “The Diamond” would not be denied and, after briefly dropping Saint Denis with a perfectly-timed right hand, he closed the show with a huge right hand to emphatically send him back to the canvas. One colossal follow-up shot put the seal on the victory as the Louisiana man claimed the 30th win, and 15th knockout, of his professional MMA career.
MVP too good for Holland
The night also saw the UFC debut of former Bellator welterweight star Michael “Venom” Page, who showcased his defensive mat skills as well as his famed striking en route to a unanimous decision victory over No. 13-ranked Kevin Holland.
“MVP” was too fast and too sharp on the feet for Holland, who had to rely on an iron chin as he found himself on the receiving end of multiple one-shot attacks that connected clean on their target. He briefly looked to be stunned after a Page hook that landed behind his ear, while a couple of spectacular spinning back elbows from “MVP” also did some noticeable damage.
Holland’s best route to victory looked to be on the mat, but despite getting the Londoner to the mat, “Trailblazer” was unable to find a route to a finish. There was also little joy for Holland in the clinch, as Page nullified his work against the cage before working his way free.
In the end, the bout made it to the scorecards, with Page picking up the unanimous decision victory with scores of 29-28 across the board.
Della Maddalena turns up the power to finish Burns late
Australian welterweight contender Jack Della Maddalena moved one step closer to a shot at the 170-pound title after claiming the biggest win of his UFC career to date.
Della Maddalena knocked out former title challenger Gilbert Burns with a barrage of elbows in the final round of a back-and-forth battle that saw the Aussie hold sway in the stand-up exchanges, while former BJJ world champion Burns’ threatened in the grappling exchanges.
The fight was hanging in the balance heading into the third round and, with his corner imploring him to go for the finish, Della Maddalena finally got the victory as he connected flush with a huge knee, then finished the job with a barrage of elbows for a huge knockout victory.
Blaydes cuts down Almeida, calls out Aspinall
Curtis Blaydes had to stay patient and keep his composure before eventually picking up a hugely important win for his heavyweight title chances.
Blaydes was taken down a record nine times in the first round by Brazilian grappling ace Jailton Almeida as the rising contender dominated the opening five minutes with a smothering approach that saw him drag the UFC veteran to the mat on multiple occasions without seriously offering the threat of a finish.
Blaydes kept his cool and made sure he stayed out of trouble. Then, at the start of Round 2, he turned to his hands to claim a rapid-fire finish.
Buoyed by his dominant opening round, Almeida launched himself at Blaydes’ legs in search of a 10th takedown. But this time “Razor” was ready. Blaydes stuffed the takedown, then punished Almeida with a vicious barrage of hammerfists to claim the swift second-round finish.
After his win he called for a rematch with interim champion Tom Aspinall, who he defeated in London via injury TKO back in 2022, saying the pair had unfinished business to attend to. With the UFC rumoured to be heading to Manchester later this year, that might prove to be an ideal main event booking.
Pereira dances to the cage, finishes Oleksiejczuk in one
Brazilian finisher Michel Pereira had the crowd on his side as soon as he stepped into the cage, and he gave the Miami fans what they wanted with a first-round finish of dangerous Pole Michal Oleksiejczuk.
Pereira looked dangerous from the off, and a hard shot to the body folded up Oleksiejczuk, who backed away to the cage in clear pain.
“Demolidor” closed in and punished his man to the body with more powerful strikes before jumping on the Pole’s back and locking up a rear-naked choke to secure the win after just 61 seconds of their middleweight matchup.
After his resounding victory, Pereira said that the 185 pound division was the perfect weight class for him, and asked for the UFC matchmakers to book him for the UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 4.
Debuting Despaigne blasts his way to 18-second TKO
Also on the early prelims, Cuban heavyweight Robelis Despaigne arrived in the UFC with a bang as he finished Josh Parisian in just 18 seconds on his Octagon debut.
Despaigne, who captured Olympic taekwondo bronze at the London 2012 games, arrived in the UFC with a 4-0 record, including knockouts in 12, three and four seconds in his three most recent outings.
It meant his debut on the big stage was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it affair, and the “The Big Boy” produced a big finish to prove that the pre-fight hype surrounding him was real.
After catching Parisian in the fight’s first exchange, the American came forward throwing punches in a bid to catch the debutant. But Despaigne simply backpedalled, created space and unloaded a perfectly-placed right hand to TKO Parisian in just 18 seconds.
His sub-20-second win put him in the record books with the second-fastest UFC win from a debuting heavyweight. Incredibly, it also represented the second longest fight of his MMA career so far. His career on the big stage is going to be a lot of fun to watch.
Scotland’s Wood bows out with a win
In the first fight of the night, Scottish flyweight Joanne Wood brought the curtain down on her UFC career with a hard-earned split-decision win over former nemesis Maryna Moroz.
Moroz handed Wood the first defeat of her pro MMA career in Poland back in 2015 with a shock first-round submission at UFC Krakow, but in the return bout, it was Wood who ended the night with her hand raised after a three-round war that really caught fire in the closing moments.
Moroz had dominated the opening round using her grappling, but Wood kept things upright during the second and third as the pair went back and forth in a high-output striking match that kept the crowd entertained throughout.
Then, with the final minute of her UFC career ticking down, Wood produced one more moment to add to her UFC highlight reel. A spinning backfist caught Moroz hard and had the Ukrainian in big trouble in the final moments of the fight. Wood poured on the pressure looking for a dramatic late finish, but Moroz survived to take the fight to the scorecards, where two of the three judges gave the fight to Wood for a split-decision victory, with scores of 28-29, 29-28, 29-28.
UFC 299: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Sean O’Malley def. Marlon Vera via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-44) – for bantamweight title
- Dustin Poirier def. Benoit Saint-Denis via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 2:32
- Michael Page def. Kevin Holland via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jack Della Maddalena def. Gilbert Burns via knockout (elbows) – Round 3, 3:43
- Petr Yan def. Song Yadong via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Curtis Blaydes def. Jailton Almeida via TKO (hammerfists) – Round 2, 0:36
- Maycee Barber def. Katlyn Cerminara via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Mateusz Gamrot def. Rafael dos Anjos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Kyler Phillips def. Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
EARLY PRELIMS
- Philipe Lins def. Ion Cutelaba via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Michel Pereira def. Michal Oleksiejczuk technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:01
- Robelis Despaigne def. Josh Parisian via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:18
- Assu Almabayev def. CJ Vergara via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Joanne Wood def. Maryna Moroz via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
