With UFC 299 lower than every week away, the countdown is on till Sean O’Malley makes his first protection of the UFC bantamweight title towards Marlon “Chito” Vera.
Watch the UFC 298 Countdown video above.
O’Malley (17-1, 1 NC) faces Vera (23-8-1) in a long-awaited rematch on March 9 on the Kaseya Middle in Miami in the primary occasion of UFC 299. Vera beforehand defeated O’Malley by way of first-round TKO in August 2020 at UFC 252. That end result stays the lone loss on O’Malley’s skilled MMA document.
O’Malley, 29, captured the UFC bantamweight title in August 2023 with a second-round knockout of longtime champion Aljamain Sterling. That victory capped off a six-fight unbeaten streak that additionally noticed “Sugar” seize a call win over Petr Yan, plus knockouts of Raulian Paiva, Kris Moutinho, and Thomas Almeida.
Vera, 31, has received 5 of his previous six bouts heading into his first UFC title alternative. Included in that run are highlight-reel knockouts of Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz, in addition to choices over Rob Font and Pedro Munhoz.
UFC 298 Countdown previews O’Malley vs. Vera 2 in addition to two different featured fights on Saturday’s card, Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint Denis and Kevin Holland vs. Michael Page.
