O'Malley vs Vera II

Who won O’Malley vs Vera II?

Sean O’Malley beat Marlon Vera by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest during the main event of UFC 299, on Saturday 9th March 2024 at Kaseya Center in Miami.

The scorecards were announced as 50-45, 50-45, 50-44 in favor of the winner Sean O’Malley.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Bantamweight division, which meant the weight limit was 135 pounds (9.6 stone or 61.2 KG).

This contest was for the UFC Bantamweight championship.

O’Malley vs Vera II stats

Sean O’Malley stepped into the octagon with a record of 17 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws, 12 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 1 by submission.

Marlon Vera made his way to the cage with a record of 21 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw, 8 of those wins coming by knock out and 8 by submission.

Sean O’Malley's UFC record stood at 10-1-0, while Marlon Vera's came in at 15-8-0.

The stats suggested O'Malley had a massive power advantage over Vera, boasting a 71% knock out percentage over Vera's 38%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Vera had a massive advantage over O'Malley, boasting a 38% submission rate over O'Malley's 6%.

Sean O’Malley was the younger man by 2 years, at 29 years old.

O'Malley had a height advantage of 3 inches over Vera. That also extended to a 2-inch reach advantage.

O'Malley was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 12 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2015, 3 years and 8 months later than Vera, whose first professional fight was in 2011. He had fought 45 less professional rounds, 39 to Vera's 84.

O’Malley vs Vera II form

Vera had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance once.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Yadong Song at UFC Fight Night Jacksonville on 16th May 2020 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Guido Cannetti at UFC Fight Night 140 on 17th November 2018 by submission in the 2nd round at Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Douglas Andrade at UFC Fight Night 125 on 3rd February 2018 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Mangueirinho Gymnasium, Belem, Brazil.

Before that, he had been defeated by John Lineker at UFC Fight Night 119 on 28th October 2017 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Ibirapuera Gymnasium, Sao Paulo.

He had beaten Brad Pickett at UFC Fight Night 107 on 18th March 2017 by knockout in the 3rd round at 02 Arena, London, United Kingdom.

Activity check

O'Malley's last 3 fights had come over a period of 6 years, 7 months and 23 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 2 years, 2 months and 19 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 7 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.3 rounds on average.

Vera's last 5 fights had come over a period of 7 years, 4 months and 6 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 5 months and 21 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 14 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.8 rounds on average.

What were the odds on O’Malley vs Vera II?

Sean O’Malley was a 2/5 (-250) favourite going into the contest, while Marlon Vera made his way into the ring at 2/1 (+200) with oddsmakers.