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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Sean O’Malley’s first defense of his UFC bantamweight title now has its official poster.

O’Malley puts his belt on the line against Marlon Vera in the main event of UFC 299, which takes place March 9 at the Kaseya Center in Miami. In the much-anticipated co-main event, former UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier risks his ranking against hard-charging up-and-comer Benoit Saint-Denis in a five-round non-title bout.

Check out the UFC 299 poster below.

O’Malley, 29, and Vera, 31, have faced off once before, with “Chito” infamously emerging victorious via first-round knockout in August 2020 at UFC 252.

O’Malley (17-1, 1 NC) is undefeated in the UFC ever since. “Sugar” leapt up the bantamweight rankings in 2022 with a split decision win over Petr Yan then captured the title in 2023 with a second-round knockout of Aljamain Sterling. He is currently MMA Fighting’s No. 9 ranked male pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Vera (23-8-1-) rides into his first UFC title shot having won five of his past six bouts. Included in that run are victories over Dominick Cruz, Rob Font, Frankie Edgar, and most recently Pedro Munhoz. Vera is currently MMA Fighting’s No. 9 ranked bantamweight in the world.

Poirier (29-8, 1 NC) and Saint-Denis (13-1, 1 NC) meet in the co-headliner at opposing stages of their careers. At age 34, Poirier makes what may be his final push toward an undisputed title while still reeling from losses to Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje in two of his past three bouts. Conversely, the 28-year-old Saint-Denis appears to be one of the fiercest new names rising up the lightweight ranks, with five straight UFC stoppage wins to his credit.

Check out the updated UFC 299 fight card below.

• Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera
• Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint-Denis
• Gilbert Burns vs. Jack Della Maddalena
• Kevin Holland vs. Michael Page
• Curtis Blaydes vs. Jailton Almeida
• Katlyn Chookagian vs. Maycee Barber
• Mateusz Gamrot vs. Rafael dos Anjos
• Petr Yan vs. Song Yadong
• Pedro Munhoz vs. Kyler Phillips
• Robelis Despaigne vs. Josh Parisian
• Michel Pereira vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
• C.J. Vergara vs. Assu Almabayev

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The middleweight title bout between champion Sean Strickland and second-ranked Dricus Du Plessis headlined Saturday’s UFC 297 event in Toronto, Canada.  

Strickland entered his first title defense riding a three-fight winning streak and coming off a convincing win over former two-time titleholder Israel Adesanya.  Du Plessis made the walk to the octagon riding an eight-fight winning streak and was coming off a TKO win over former champion Robert Whittaker.  

The two meet in the middle of the octagon.  Du Plessis utilized a kick heavy offense early.  Strickland used his jab.  Du Plessis lands a leg kick.  Strickland continues to touch Du Plessis with his jab.  Du Plessis landed a kick to the body.  Du Plessis changes stance and partially landed a head kick.  Strickland checked most of Du Plessis’ leg kicks.  Du Plessis changed levels and took Strickland down.  Strickland got back to his feet but Du Plessis drug him back to the canvas.  Strickland again gets up and Du Plessis backed away.  

Back standing, Strickland went back to landing his jab.  Strickland connected with a clean right hand and Du Plessis pressed forward at the end of the round.  

Du Plessis missed with a right hand at the beginning of the second frame.  Du Plessis landed a spinning back fist.  Strickland continued to land his jab and check kicks.  Du Plessis went to the body with a combination.  Du Plessis connected with a left hand.  He changes levels and took Strickland down.  Strickland stood up but has a cut on his left eye.  Du Plessis’ left eye started to swell.  Another close round.  The fight appeared even after two rounds.

Du Plessis landed a head kick early in the third.  Strickland’s jab continued to find its mark.  Du Plessis pressured Strickland and landed to the body.  Du Plessis landed a left hand with two minutes remaining.  Strickland landed his jab as Du Plessis moved forward.  Round three was a close round.  Du Plessis pressed forward and Strickland’s output declined.  

Strickland’s corner told him to pick up the pace while Du Plessis was advised to go for takedowns.  Strickland landed a right hand.  Du Plessis stepped in with a right hand.  Du Plessis connected with an elbow.  Strickland responded with a right hand.  Strickland landed another right hand.  Strickland’s cut reopened.  Strickland clinches and Du Plessis tripped him to the canvas.  

Strickland stood but ate a right hand.  He started to bleed more.  Du Plessis connected with two right hands.  He landed a head kick.  Du Plessis took Strickland down.  Strickland worked his way to his feet only to be slammed to the canvas.  Strickland stood and the two separated.  Strickland landed a combination late in the round.  Round 4 went to Du Plessis.  

With the fight potentially even heading into the final round, the crowd rose to its feet.  Strickland connected with his jab and a right hand.  Du Plessis answered with a leg kick followed by a head kick.  Strickland just took it.  Strickland stuffed a takedown attempt and landed a right hand.  With 90 seconds to go, Strickland stuffed another takedown attempt.  Strickland connected with a right hand.   Du Plessis responds with a right hand.  They slugged it out for the final 15 seconds.  

The fight went the distance and the judges scored the bout for Du Plessis by split decision.  The scorecards read 47–48, 48–47, and 48–47.  And new!  

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

TORONTO — UFC flyweight Jimmy Flick reacts to his come-from-behind submission of Malcolm Gordon at UFC 297 and more.

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UFC

Conor McGregor’s comeback in June was downgraded from ‘probably’ to ‘no’ by UFC CEO Dana White in his latest comments on the UFC sports star’s long-awaited return to action.

The UFC is still being extremely shifty regarding Conor McGregor’s return to fighting.

On New Years Eve coming into 2024, McGregor announced that he’d be fighting Michael Chandler on June 29th for the UFC’s International Fight Week pay-per-view. There was no corroborating message from the promotion regarding this, and UFC CEO Dana White was extremely non-committal about their biggest star’s return during UFC 297 fight week.

In an interview with Sportsnet, the most White would do was confirm McGregor would fight in 2024. As for a date or opponent? Still TBD. Following UFC 297, he told media at the post-fight press conference that Conor wouldn’t fight in June or on the recently relocated Saudi Arabia card set for around the same time.

“Uuuuh, no,” White said regarding McGregor’s June declaration. “When Conor is ready to fight, you know we’ll announce it. That’s what we’ll do.”

At this point, we have to wonder what’s going on behind the scenes that’s keeping the UFC from locking up McGregor’s comeback fight. “The Notorious” was champing at the bit to get back to action in December 2023, but the UFC’s refusal to waive a six month USADA testing period stopped that from happening. Then Mac set his sights on UFC 300 in April, but the promotion said ‘No thanks’ to that. Now June is looking like it might be off the table?

McGregor sounded extremely upset about the delays when he was in Riyadh this past December for the country’s big Day of Reckoning boxing event.

“Through what I came through to what I bring, they f—ing should open floodgates for me, yeah?” he declared. “And I’m waiting. I’m waiting and I’m waiting. My patience is wearing thin on me waiting.”

June will mark nearly three years since McGregor’s last fight, which ended with Conor’s leg snapped in half. It’s no surprise he’s eager to get back in the cage now that he’s healed up. So what’s the hold up?

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