UFC 299: O'Malley v Vera 2: Fight date, time, undercard & how to watch

Bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley goes hunting for revenge for his only defeat in the UFC when he takes on Marlon Vera in his first title defence at UFC 299.

Vera defeated O'Malley via a first round TKO (elbows and punches) at UFC 252, but the former has failed to kick on and is #6 in the rankings.

In contrast, O'Malley has won five of his six subsequent fights, the odd one out being a no-contest against Pedro Munhoz, and won the Bantamweight Championship in a Performance of the Night victory against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292.

The fight leads a stacked card featuring former Lightweight champion Dustin Poirier taking on the lower-ranked but incredibly skilful Benoit Saint-Denis.

A couple of other former champions are also set for the Octagon, with previous Bantamweight belt holder Petr Yan facing Song Yadong and former Lightweight hero Rafael dos Anjos due to meet Mateusz Gamrot.

UFC 299: O'Malley v Vera 2 date

UFC 299 is set to start on Saturday 9th March and runs overnight into Sunday 10th March.

UFC 299: O'Malley v Vera 2 time

A stacked card is set to start with the Early Prelims, which will begin at 23:00 on Saturday 9th March.

The Prelims are then scheduled to start at 01:00 on Sunday 10th March and the Main Card is billed for around 03:00, with Main Event due to start at 05:00.

UFC 299: O'Malley v Vera 2 venue

UFC 299 will be held at the Kaseya Center in Miami.

The venue is the home of NBA side Miami Heat and has also been used for other events.

Despite an in-built ice rink, it has never been used in the NHL, but the WWE has hosted several pay-per-view events at the Kaseya Center, while U2 and Madonna are among the acts to have held concerts at the arena.

The UFC has visited twice before, for UFC 42 in April 2003, returning for UFC 287 in April 2023.

UFC 299: O'Malley v Vera 2 how to watch

UK fans can catch both the Early Prelims and the Prelims on the UFC Fight Pass.

The Main Card is then due to be shown on TNT Sports, formerly BT Sport.

UFC 299: O'Malley v Vera 2 odds

O'Malley is the favourite to retain his belt with a victory, with Vera the outsider to overcome O'Malley again and become Bantamweight champion.

UFC 299: O'Malley v Vera 2 belts

O'Malley makes the first defence of his Bantamweight title following last August's win over Sterling, while it will be the first time Vera has fought for a title.

O'Malley record

O'Malley is 17-1-0 for his career, with one No Contest. The 29-year-old started out competing in Intense Championship Flighting in his home state of Montana, before progressing into other promotions and making his UFC debut in March 2018, beating Andre Soukhamthath.

Wins over Jose Alberto Quinonez and Eddie Wineland followed, before that sole defeat of his career to Vera at UFC 252.

The 29-year-old has responded by going unbeaten in his last six fights, recording TKO or KO victories over Thomas Almeida, Kris Moutinho, Raulian Paiva and Sterling, while his No Contest against Munhoz was followed by a Split Decision success over Yan.

O'Malley believes he will become as big as Conor McGregor with a win on 10th March and will hope to have overcome the psychological scars of his sole UFC defeat.

Vera record

Vera is 21-8-1 and also began his career on the domestic scene in his homeland of Ecuador.

The 31-year-old lost to Marco Beltran on his UFC debut in November 2014, but bounced back with a Submission victory over Roman Salazar, only to lose his next bout by Decision to Davey Grant.

Vera has since lost five of 19 fights, losing to Song and Jose Aldo, either side of his UFC 252 win over O'Malley in August 2020.

His last outing saw him on the right side of a Unanimous Decision call against Munhoz.

UFC 299: O'Malley v Vera 2 undercard

It promises to be a fabulous night of UFC action, with 13 fights scheduled across the Early Prelims, Prelims and Main Card.

Scottish fans will see Joanne Wood in action as she takes on Ukraine's Maryna Moroz in the night's opening fight, a Woman's Flyweight bout.

Veteran Munhoz is also in action as he takes on Kyler Phillips, while Dos Anjos, #11 at Lightweight, takes on #6 Gamrot as part of the Prelims.

Yan and Song start the Main Card, before Welterweight #4 Gilbert Burns meets Jack Della Maddalena and then, after a decade in Bellator, England's Michael Page makes his UFC debut against Welterweight #13 Kevin Holland.

Poirer v Saint-Denis then provides an intriguing entrée for the main course.

Poirier, 5/4, has lost two of his last three fights after beating McGregor twice in 2021, going down to Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje, either side of a Submission success over former Lightweight champion Michael Chandler.

Meanwhile, 4/6 Saint-Denis, known as 'God of War', has won five fights in a row since losing to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos on his UFC debut, most recently beating Matt Frevola in a Performance of the Night at UFC 295 in November 2023.