The main event of UFC 299 featured a rematch between bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and the hero of Ecuador, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera.
After Chito gave O’Malley a dead leg with a kick to the peroneal nerve back in 2020 before finishing him with a hellacious elbow on the ground, Sean began the win streak that would lead him to the title. Although O’Malley still declares himself undefeated, Vera represents the only blemish on his fight record, so getting this one back was important to the new champ, and get it back he did indeed.
The pair traded leg kicks when the bout began. Chito marched steadily forward so O’Malley gave just enough ground to avoid his power, but used lateral movement to avoid getting trapped against the fence. No big shots were landed, but Sean landed most of the strikes he threw while Chito barely connected at all. In particular, he threw both round kicks and straight rights to the body of Vera, below Chito’s high guard.
Clearly leading after one round, O’Malley went back to work in the second. His attacks were clean as was his defense. Diversity continued to be a theme in his offense, front kicks made several big appearances this round. Chito had one moment halfway through the round where he got a flurry off against the fence, but after that he went back to having trouble tracking Sean down. Sean also showed he could check Vera’s leg kicks. With ninety seconds left in the round O’Malley landed as big a knee as can be landed, and Chito just retreated, did not go down. Sean swarmed him and did a lot of damage, causing blood to flow from Vera’s nose. Chito never looked like he was about to be finished, but he did get staggered to a knee in the final second of the round.
Chito began aggressively in the third round but the status quo was quickly restored as Sean controlled the pace of the fight. He continued to piece Marlon Vera up, despite some decent singular shots from the Ecuadorian. That continued for the entire round; Chito did not get hurt as badly as he did in round two, but neither did he find his way back into the fight.
Again Vera started a round with aggression when the fourth started, motivated from coach Jason Parillo’s speech to him between rounds. However he just could not track Sean down because of the champ’s footwork, so he settled a bit after that. Ninety seconds into the round he managed to unload a good flurry against the fence. He continued to stay aggressive and worked to trap O’Malley against the fence, having some sucess as Sean’s nose began to bleed. This was by far the closest round thus far, though O’Malley continued to land good shots of his own as well, meaning despite the damage Vera did he may have still lost the round.
The rivals met in the center for the final round of the fight and exchanged jabs to start. Sean landed the first massive blow with a right hand that staggered Chito backwards. He poured on the pressure as Vera shelled up while circling with his back against the fence. The momentum did not shift back towards the challenger for the entire round as the champion beat him up with a variety of tools from the depths of his striking arsenal. Vera got off the back foot for the final minute and attempted to put strikes on his foe, but O’Malley remained dominant.
There was absolutely no doubt when Bruce Buffer read the scores. All judges scored all the rounds for O’Malley, with one of them giving him a 10-8 for good measure. This performance was a true masterclass from Sean. Though he has had great performances before, none were quite like this, and this marks him as a true pound-for-pound elite.
Official Result: Sean O’Malley def. Chito Vera by Unanimous Decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-44)
