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

O'Malley had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going to the judges twice.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Marlon Vera at UFC 299 on 9th March 2024 by unanimous decision in their UFC Bantamweight championship fight at Kaseya Center, Miami, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 on 19th August 2023 by knockout in the 2nd round in their UFC Bantamweight championship fight at TD Garden, Boston.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Petr Yan at UFC 280 on 22nd October 2022 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Before that, his fight against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276 on 2nd July 2022 ended in a no contest.

He was victorious against Raulian Paiva at UFC 269 on 11th December 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Vera had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Sean O’Malley at UFC 299 on 9th March 2024 by unanimous decision in their UFC Bantamweight championship fight at Kaseya Center, Miami, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 292 on 19th August 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at TD Garden, Boston.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Cory Sandhagen at UFC Fight Night San Antonio on 25th March 2023 by split decision in their 5 round contest at AT&T Center, San Antonio.

Before that, he had beaten Dominick Cruz at UFC Fight Night: Vera vs. Cruz on 13th August 2022 by knockout in the 4th round at Pechanga Arena, San Diego.

He had defeated Rob Font at UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Vera on 30th April 2022 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Marlon Vera had been fighting more than Sean O’Malley.

Going to this contest, Sean O’Malley had last fought 1 month and 9 days ago, while Marlon Vera's last outing had been 1 month and 9 days ago.

O'Malley's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 4 months and 7 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 5 months and 20 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

Vera's last 5 fights had come over a period of 1 year, 11 months and 19 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 4 months and 23 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 22 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 4.4 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.