Sean O’Malley avenged the one defeat of his skilled profession on Saturday, outpointing Marlon Vera to retain his bantamweight title at UFC 299.
It was a masterclass in Miami by “Sugar Sean”, who different his offence and repeatedly switched stances to outstrike “Chito” throughout 5 rounds. The scorecards learn 50-45, 50-45, 50-44 in O’Malley’s favour.
With the victory, O’Malley made his first title defence a profitable one, having knocked out Aljamain Sterling to win the title in August. The American additionally took revenge upon Vera, who beat him through TKO in 2020.
The standout second of the combat noticed O’Malley drill a knee into his challenger’s face in spherical two – a shot that the Ecuadorian someway survived. O’Malley then dropped Vera to a knee simply earlier than the buzzer signaled the top of the spherical.
Vera, 31, confirmed spirit to muster a good spell of offence on the finish of spherical three and early in spherical 4, with O’Malley briefly retreating. However, the champion harm Vera with a cross within the fifth and ultimate spherical and noticed out a scientific efficiency within the remaining minutes.
O’Malley, 29, proceeded to name out featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, saying he would gladly problem the Georgian-Spaniard in Spain later this 12 months. Meanwhile, Vera – sporting important swelling to the face – vowed to bounce again and turn into champion sometime.
In the co-main occasion, former interim champion Dustin Poirier knocked Benoit Saint-Denis out chilly after preventing by means of adversity of their light-weight bout.
Poirier’s earlier combat was a knockout loss to Justin Gaethje in July, and plenty of followers feared for the 35-year-old as he took on 28-year-old Saint-Denis. But the American survived some precarious putting and grappling exchanges to knock out the Frenchman with a clear proper hook in spherical two.
Source: www.impartial.co.uk