Sean O'Malley is hell-bent on being a combat sports superstar. Performances like the one he turned in against Marlon Vera at UFC 299 will go a long way to realizing that dream.
Debates raged all week about how O'Malley's star potential might be overblown. But if he continues to churn out performances like he did at the Kaseya Center in Miami, it won't matter what people say. O'Malley was a smooth operator on the feet. His speed, power and footwork picked apart a notoriously slow starter in Vera. The bantamweight champion repeatedly stunned his challenger for a clean sweep on the scorecards.
It's a genuine toss-up between what was more impressive: O'Malley's stand-up game or Vera's chin. O'Malley hit Vera with one of the cleanest knees you'll ever see. It sounded like "Chito" was cracked across the skull with a metal bat. Yet the bloodied challenger absorbed the blow and subsequent barrages to keep his 33-fight unfinished streak intact.
"I felt something in his face break. I don't know if it was his nose or his cheek…" O'Malley told UFC commentator Joe Rogan during his post-fight interview.
"Chito" found his most success in the final three rounds when engaging in violent brawls. But O'Malley evoked the spirit that carried him through a tough fight with Petr Yan -- albeit with an improved ability to slip out of danger -- to take those rounds from the challenger as well.
O'Malley called out UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria post-fight but expressed his willingness to defend the bantamweight title against top contender Merab Dvalishvili.
"Dana, get me a jet to Spain!" O'Malley said.
UFC president Dana White is high on O'Malley. White labeled O'Malley the biggest star in UFC bantamweight history during the UFC 299 post-fight press conference and said O'Malley might eventually reach Conor McGregor status. White was not keen on booking Topuria vs. O'Malley next when asked about it.
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Elsewhere on the card, Dustin Poirier reminded many why he's one of the best fighters to step into the Octagon and has one of the biggest hearts in the sport. Poirier rallied from a pair of submission attempts and constant pressure from rising contender Benoit Saint Denis to score a second-round knockout that sent shockwaves through the arena. Poirier, fresh of a knockout loss of his own to Justin Gaethje, could still be a factor at 155 pounds if he's able to put together performances like that.
"This is the shit that make you a f---ing legend," UFC CEO Dana White said. "These are legendary fights when you go in and you face a guy who is a savage, and it looks like you can't win this fight or people think you can't win this fight and then you do it, in spectacular fashion in the way he did tonight. We don't determine whether you lose or whether you win, you do. What we try to do is put on the best match-made fight that we can possibly do, and that's why big stars are built in the UFC and legendary fights happen every weekend."
CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Saturday bringing you all the results and highlights from the UFC 299 below.
UFC 299 card, results
- Sean O'Malley (c) def. Marlon Vera via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-44)
- Dustin Poirier def. Benoit Saint Denis via second-round knockout (punches)
- Kevin Holland def. Michael Page via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jack Della Maddalena def. Gilbert Burns via third-round knockout (punches)
- Petr Yan def. Song Yadong via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Curtis Blaydes def. Jailton Almeida via second-round TKO (punches)
- 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)
- Philipe Lins def. Ion Cutelaba via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Michel Pereira def. Michał Oleksiejczuk via first-round submission (rear-naked choke)
- Robelis Despaigne def. Josh Parisian via first-round knockout (punches)
- Assu Almabayev def. C.J. Vergara via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Joanne Wood def. Maryna Moroz via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)