The UFC 299 is a great intro for the upcoming UFC 300, with several massive battles, one of them being for the UFC bantamweight title. The headliner of this night will be between the champ, Sean O’Malley, and the challenger, Marlon Vera.
There is one more exciting event – Dustin Poirier comes back inside the octagon to meet Benoit Saint-Denis. This is his must-win match otherwise, the Diamond won’t be in the title mix. Saint-Denise sees Poirier as a chance to gain a reputation and break into the division’s top.
Many other big-time names are involved, like Kevin Holland, Gilbert Burns, or Petr Yan. BetXchange brings the odds for this magnificent show, so stay tuned.
O’Malley vs. Vera – Vol. 2
That one defeat O’Malley has in his career was a vicious KO against Vera, who schooled the young star at the time. Though, that happened three and a half years ago, and ever since, O’Malley had five wins, two against top names in the division, Yan and Sterling whom he KOd to take the title.
We don’t have to say too much about this guy. He is a vicious striker, the one who is born for stand-up. Suga is so calm and focused that many believe he isn’t that fast, but that is simply because he doesn’t move more than needed. Just remember how he measured Sterling before the KO, having such a cool reaction after Aljo’s miss.
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Vera has five wins in the past six appearances, with the sole defeat coming to Cory Sandhagen, and that was a split decision. Previously, he defeated Frankie Edgar, Rob Font, and Dominick Cruz, and after the failure, he bounced back against Pedro Munhoz. As you can see, his rivals were mostly veterans and those who weren’t in the elite echelon when fights took place.
However, Chito is a one-of-a-kind warrior. His aggressiveness and punching output are sometimes incredible, but his game is on the mat more than in stand-up. Or at least his finishing. Vera has 10 submission victories, eight KO triumphs, and five by decision.
Only a few other fighters in the division have more versatile endings. This guy can do it all, and his all-aroundness was the reason why he reached current heights. Now, we can’t say that Vera has some signature move or that he dominates in one aspect of the fight but is simply good in all of them.
Vera didn’t do well against Sandhagen, and that’s why we believe that O’Malley has a better chance of winning. Chito’s rivals were guys on the decline, and the only one who was in his prime created plenty of problems. As for the champion, he is an upgraded version of the kid who lost four years ago against Vera, so this is a perfect chance for him to level the score.
Poirier vs. Saint-Denis
The Diamond was massacred against Gaethje, who KOd him with a replica of Leon Edwards’s head-kick against Usman. This was the second loss for him in the past three battles, putting Poirier in a difficult situation. With 35 years, he is close to retirement, and if he doesn’t win here, that could happen pretty fast.
In 38 octagon appearances, this legend has 29 wins, 14 KOs, and eight losses. He can wrestle, strike hard and take hard hits, but as time goes by, his cardio is dropping, and that’s evident. His size is just too big for the lightweight division, and sometimes that takes a toll.
Saint-Denise lost to Elize Zaleski dos Santos in 2021 and, after that, had five straight victories, with the biggest names in the CV being Thiago Moises and Matt Frevola. This guy is a master of judo and knows to wrestle. After all, nine of his 13 wins were via submission, while four came via KO. Another thing is that he has a solid chin, who, truth to be told, wasn’t tested properly.
From what we saw in the past, we will go for the surprise here and pick Saint-Denise, mainly due to his cardio and the fact that Poirier didn’t handle elite wrestlers very well in his career.
Odds for this and all the other fights from the UFC 299 card are available here.
