Sean O’Malley defended his UFC bantamweight title at UFC 299, defeating Marlon Vera in a match that drew the fourth-highest live gate in UFC history.
Sean O’Malley‘s still the top dog. Four years post his only MMA defeat, he’s back with a bang. He outshone Marlon Vera in a UFC 299 masterclass. His first UFC bantamweight title defense was a spectacle at Miami’s Kaseya Center. The event also saw a lightweight legend’s triumph and the rise of new contenders.
So much happened, let’s dissect the seven biggest takeaways from UFC 299.
1. Sean O’Malley, love him or hate him, he’s a man of his word. After his two-round shocker over Aljamain Sterling, he confidently predicted his rematch with Marlon Vera would be the most lucrative bantamweight fight of all time. He was right, and then some. UFC 299 drew the fourth-highest live gate in UFC history. The only three higher? All headlined by Conor McGregor. Impressive, right?
O’Malley promised to correct past mistakes and turn Vera into a punching bag. He was right again, and then some. He landed 230 significant strikes, tying for the eighth-most ever in a UFC fight. His significant strike differential of 141 (230-89) was the second-best bantamweight mark of all time.
In short, O’Malley gave Vera a beating few have in UFC history. Props to Vera for hanging in there. He even managed to turn it into a dogfight down the stretch, but O’Malley’s technique and precision were masterful.
But let’s be real: UFC 299 was always going to be the warm-up for “The Sugar Show” era. Vera was here for the storyline, not because he deserved to skip the line. But now? Now the real challenges begin.
I’m not interested in seeing Ilia Topuria vs. O’Malley in 2024. There are too many deserving challengers in both divisions. Merab Dvalishvili, in particular, has more than earned his shot. He’s tied for the longest UFC win streak in the history of the division. He also won over fans by turning Henry Cejudo into his personal grappling dummy. Champ vs. champ fights should mean something special. O’Malley wants big fights, I get it. But if he beats the boogeyman of his weight class, the clear-cut No. 1 contender who’s almost universally seen as his stylistic kryptonite? He’ll rocket to a different level of superstardom while still doing his duty as champ.
Give me O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili next and let the meritocracy reign. Even Topuria agrees.
2. “This is the s*** that makes you a f****** legend.” I don’t always agree with Dana White, but when a man’s right, a man’s right.
Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint Denis is the type of fight we simply don’t get in the lightweight division. That’s why everyone was so genuinely shocked when it was made. Lightweight has long been MMA’s most talent-rich class, but it’s also the foremost division of ranking squatters. Once you claw your way into that top tier, you’re incentivized to almost never fight anyone else but fellow top-tier guys for the rest of your prime. It’s why many of the best lightweights only compete once or twice a year — they’re locked into a perpetual game of rock-paper-scissors, beating up on one another while shutting out the next generation. And you can’t blame them. With so much talent abound at 155 pounds, one loss to a periphery name could derail your title dreams for years. Ask Beneil Dariush. The risk vs. reward just isn’t there.
That’s why White’s words ring so true: Under no circumstance did Poirier need to fight Saint Denis at UFC 299. Word could’ve leaked that Poirier turned down the offer and no one would’ve batted an eye, because of course the aging No. 3 lightweight fresh off a knockout loss isn’t going to fight the No. 13-ranked ex-Special Forces killer who’s leaving a trail of broken bodies in his wake. Win three more, young fella, and then maybe we’ll have a chat.
But Poirier is a f****** legend, as White so aptly explained, and so he threw himself into the fire in the most high-risk way possible, if only to find out if he’s still that dude. And y’all, Dustin Poirier is certainly still that dude.
We’ll save the résumé talk until Poirier decides he’s done for good, but just know that the sheer breadth of what he continues to pull off is starting to reach a plain few lightweights can match from an all-time perspective. More importantly now, for our purposes, is that Poirier may have just improbably gilly-jumped his way back to the front of the lightweight pecking order, if only because of how badly the UFC mucked up this division with its short-term planning. Think about it. Islam Makhachev is likely going to defend his title on the Saudi Arabia card on June 22. Every lightweight who has a better claim than Poirier is already set to complete on April 13 at UFC 300. What are the chances any of Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, Arman Tsarukyan, or even Max Holloway escape that bloodbath of a card healthy enough to turn around and fight again in two months?
I’ll answer that question for you: Very unlikely.
That leaves Poirier — already the biggest star in the division — as the most obvious leftover name to swoop in and fill that summer spot. The timeline works out too well and the UFC would be thrilled to give a beloved fan-favorite one last chance to win the belt.
Is Poirier the most deserving? Probably not. But don’t be surprised if it happens.
3. Speaking of divisions awash in ranking squatters, welterweight has essentially been a less fun version of lightweight over the past few years with all the retreads and matchup stalling we’ve seen at the top. But I wrote after UFC 296 that Colby Covington’s flaccid final hurrah should signal an end to the old guard’s stranglehold over the conversation, and UFC 299 was just the latest example of that playing out in real-time. On Saturday, two new — and very fun — contenders arrived to the mix: Jack Della Maddalena and Michael Page.
By obliterating Gilbert Burns with one of the most perfect knees humanity has ever seen, Jackie Three Names rinsed the stink off his past two performances and separated himself from the crowded middle pack of the 170-pound ranks. I have concerns about how he’ll fare against the elite wrestlers of the division after watching Burns take him down seven times and control him for long swathes of that fight, but then the madman went and called out Shavkat Rakhmonov — and good lord, let me tell you, take all of my money. I don’t think that’s a wise fight for him, but kudos to “JDM” for demanding a date with the reaper.
And then there was Page, who lived up to his showman reputation by slowly sucking the soul out of Kevin Holland over the course of 15 increasingly dispiriting minutes. Would less antics and more finishing urgency have left a bigger impact? Sure. But Holland looked completely demoralized by the end of that fight, and I don’t blame him — “MVP” pretty much did whatever he wanted in there. Book the Stephen Thompson bout next and let’s watch either the most boring or most electric karate showdown available in modern MMA.
Either way, the future of welterweight remains brighter than it’s been in a long while.
You love to see it.
4. I present to you example No. 457 of why records don’t tell the full story in MMA: Petr Yan.
The former UFC champ may have been flirting with a four-fight losing streak heading into Saturday night, but anyone who understands how to look beyond a Wikipedia page knew his was the most dubious of skids imaginable. Yan came within a single round on a single scorecard of beating the past two UFC champs back-to-back, Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley (and overwhelmingly won the media scoring against O’Malley by a staggering 25-1 tally on MMA Decisions). If only by the law of averages, you’d assume at least one of those two hotly contested split decisions would go his way. And then? Yeah, sure, Yan got stunted on by Merab Dvalishvili — but many, including myself, consider Dvalishvili to be the best bantamweight alive in 2024. There’s no shame in losing to that man. Ten consecutive professional fighters (and three former UFC champions) have done exactly that.
All of which is a long-winded way to reiterate that all losing streaks are not created equal. Yan is still only 31 years old, so it was always premature to write off a talent who just two years ago was being hailed as the next great UFC bantamweight