Sean O’Malley vs Marlon Vera LIVE: UFC 299 fight updates and results tonight

Sean O’Malley’s coach has predicted a “viral knockout” for his fighter in the tonight’s main event, when “Sugar Sean” faces Marlon Vera.

O’Malley, who won the UFC men’s bantamweight title in August, will make his first defence of the belt tonight, taking on the only man to have beaten him: “Chito” Vera.

In the pair’s first fight, in 2020, Vera battered O’Malley’s legs, ultimately causing an injury before sealing a TKO of the American. Yet O’Malley is the favourite ahead of their rematch next month – a verdict that Tim Welch agrees with.

“I believe it’s going to be a viral knockout,” Welch said on The MMA Hour in February. “But like I said, I’m preparing Sean for a five-round war. I’m bringing the toughest people I could find in to spar him, going tons of rounds, trying to break him, trying to break his legs, kicking his legs.

“We’re preparing him for a five-round war, because Chito is really good at taking shots, he’s very durable. So, we’re preparing him for five rounds, but I do believe in my heart that [Vera is probably going to be] face-planted at the end of the fight.”

More from our interview with Michael “Venom” Page:

“[Kevin Holland is] a competent fighter, he’s a tough guy, he’s a cockroach; you can’t kill him, but I’m gonna try. I’m gonna try really hard! He’s an entertaining fighter, I’m an entertaining fighter. Us together, I think that’s a match made in heaven.”

One criticism of Page’s career has been a perceived lack of top-level competition during his spell in Bellator, and the Londoner has admitted that his “ego” wants to prove his doubters wrong.

“I’ve been doing it behind closed doors, I’ve sparred with so many different people – names that I haven’t even mentioned before,” Page said. “I’ve sparred Leon, [UFC light-heavyweight] Johnny Walker, and I don’t believe any one of them would ever say anything negative about the spar. That just shows the level I’m at, but yeah, it’ll be nice to prove it, just because I’m a bit petty… I’m a lot petty.”

And here is an excerpt from our interview with Michael “Venom” Page! The London fighter, a standout in Bellator, makes his long-awaited UFC debut against Kevin Holland tonight. Expect fireworks in that bout…

“It’s weird, it’s still a little bit surreal. There’s moments where I kind of forget I’m here, then something will happen and I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m in the UFC!’ I don’t think I sign off as a UFC athlete until I’ve stepped in that cage, fought and come out.

“One thing that helped was the bare knuckle fight [with UFC alumnus Mike Perry in 2022]. Once that fight was announced, Hunter [Campbell, UFC CBO] reached out to Audie [Attar, Page’s manager], like: ‘Does that mean he’s a free agent?’ Audi was like, ‘Oh, no, not yet,’ and explained, but that action meant: ‘Oh, these guys are interested.’

“I had one more [Bellator] fight, then there’s a certain term when you can’t negotiate. I had to wait that term out, but I was going around, flirting; you’d see me at different shows and stuff. Then the conversations were allowed to commence.”

More from our exclusive interview with Benoit Saint-Denis:

In 2022, the UFC visited France for the first time, with Saint-Denis becoming the first home fighter to ever compete on a UFC card in the nation. He secured a vicious victory over Gabriel Miranda in a raucous arena and recalls: “There was an amazing communion with the crowd. I made a lot of sacrifices to be on that card. I had a foot injury and it was the worst training camp I ever had, but all the pain and suffering paid off in Paris.”

Another sacrifice surrounded the timing of the event. “I had my wedding one week before,” Saint-Denis explains, adding: “Laura and I met at a point in our lives when we were both taking different directions. She went from being in the French futsal team and winning the European Champions Cup with Toulouse to being a dog keeper then a shooting instructor in the police force.”

Speaking of Benoit Saint-Denis… Here is an excerpt from our exclusive interview with the Frenchman:

If ever there has been an earned nickname in MMA, it is that of Benoit Saint-Denis. Some fans deem the Frenchman worthy of his “God of War” moniker purely due to his belligerent violence in the cage, but the UFC lightweight’s time fighting terrorists in the special forces is the clincher.

“I was in the French special air service,” Saint-Denis tells The Independent, his gentle drawl tinged with a French fizz as he speaks from his home in Bayonne. “It comes from you guys in Great Britain in the Second World War, it got created to destroy German aircraft in north Africa, and the special forces went on from there. In the UK it still exists as the SAS [Special Air Service]. I was part of a unit in France, and I was mostly in Africa – Mali, Burkina Faso – fighting against terrorist groups like Boko Haram. So, it was mostly counter-terrorism.”

Saint-Denis, the son of a military father, recounts the experience as matter-of-factly as if this was a normal career. It was not. Nor is his current one.

This is a stacked card, and so many bouts would be valid picks for fight of the night…

Ours, though, is the co-main event: five rounds scheduled between former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier and rising French star Benoit Saint-Denis.

O’Malley – 2/5; Vera – 2/1

Poirier – 7/4; Saint-Denis – 4/9

Holland – 4/5; Page – 20/21

Here is tonight’s card in full. As mentioned below, the early prelims are under way as we speak, and we’ll give you a full prelim round-up at the end of the regular prelims!

Sean O’Malley (C) vs Marlon “Chito” Vera 2 (bantamweight title)

Dustin Poirier vs Benoit Saint-Denis (lightweight – five rounds)

Kevin Holland vs Michael “Venom” Page (welterweight)

Gilbert Burns vs Jack Della Maddalena (welterweight)

Petr Yan vs Song Yadong (bantamweight)

Curtis Blaydes vs Jailton Almeida (heavyweight)

Katlyn Chookagian vs Maycee Barber (women’s flyweight)

Mateusz Gamrot vs Rafael dos Anjos (lightweight)

Pedro Munhoz vs Kyler Phillips (bantamweight)

Ion Cutelaba vs Philipe Lins (light-heavyweight)

Michel Pereira vs Michal Oleksijczuk (middleweight)

Robelis Despaigne vs Josh Parisian (heavyweight)

CJ Vergara vs Assu Almabayev (flyweight)

Joanne Wood vs Maryna Moroz (women’s flyweight)

The card will air live on TNT Sports in the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and website also streaming the fights. Discovery+ will also air the action in the UK. In the US, ESPN+ will stream the event live, as will the UFC’s Fight Pass.

If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch the event, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider.

UFC 299 is taking place at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. The early prelims are now under way, with the regular prelims following at 1am GMT on Sunday (5pm PT, 7pm CT, 8pm ET on Saturday). The main card is then scheduled for 3am GMT on Sunday (7pm PT, 9pm CT, 10pm ET on Saturday).

We’ll provide live fight updates when the main card starts! Until then, we’ll keep you covered with build-up, and we’ll give you a round-up of the prelim results when the main card begins.