Sean O’Malley (18-1) dominated Marlon Vera (23-9-1) to retain his Bantamweight Championship at UFC 299 from the Kaseya Center in Miami.
O’Malley was active to open the fight, connecting on a spinning back kick and a nice slapping left kick to the ribs. O’Malley continued to go to work with snapping leg kicks, both inside and outside. O’Malley picked Vera apart with a nice straight left, switching his stance and refusing to stop his active movements with a slew of feigns. Vera charged forward with a quick combo, but it was O’Malley back again with his collection of body shots before heading back upstairs on the challenger.
In the second, Vera’s corner encouraged more activity, but it was O’Malley who continued to pick his opponent apart. O’Malley popped Vera late in the round with a huge knee, but it didn’t seem to hurt him. The champ followed that with a left and right that opened up a cut on Vera. A late right hand dropped Vera to a knee before the buzzer sounded.
Vera opened the third with a persistence that O’Malley wouldn’t just steamroll through him. Vera came out of the gate with his own combination of strikes, but eventually it was O’Malley who was finding his range. Understanding he was likely down two rounds to none, Vera opened up with heavy-handed shots, but it was O’Malley yet again counter striking and picking him apart. At the end of the round, Vera began to find his footing, striking O’Malley with a big right before the buzzer.
The fourth saw an invigorated Vera bring the aggressiveness to O’Malley. The champ picked up the pace, showing his expert footwork and yet again snapped jabs at Vera. The challenger jabbed O’Malley, looked for a flying knee, and brought the fight to the champ. Vera rushed O’Malley on occasion, but it was the champ evading and putting together combinations that kept him at bay.
In the final round, O’Malley hurt Vera a minute into the round, but refused to finish his opponent. O’Malley continued to pick and pop Vera, doing just enough to keep the clock moving toward a successful defense.
The bout was a return fight for O’Malley, who suffered a nerve injury in the first round against Vera and lost via TKO in 2020. That loss temporarily derailed his hype train. But eventually he got back on track and he reached the top of the mountain with a second-round knockout against Aljamain Sterling in 2023.
Since 2021, Vera had lost just one fight coming into Saturday night’s main event, with victories over Pedro Munhoz, Dominick Cruz, Rob Font, and Frankie Edgar.