What’s next for Sean O’Malley, Dustin Poirier and other top stars after an exciting night in Miami?
A 14-fight UFC 299 in Miami was headlined by a dominant title fight performance from Sean O’Malley. In the co-main event, Dustin Poirier reminded the world that he’s still one of the pound-for-pound best in the sport and Michael « Venom » Page put on a show in his debut in the new promotion. But what were the biggest moments from UFC 299 and who should be next for the biggest standouts on the card? Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim offer their final thoughts.
MIAMI — There have been a lot of questions regarding Sean O’Malley and how big of a star he is or could be.
The UFC has pushed him hard, there’s no doubting that. The promotion pumped out his title-winning knockout of Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 last August on all its social media channels, the idea being to get as many eyes on it as possible. O’Malley was able to wear custom pink fight shorts rather than the traditional black and gold. The list of ways the UFC has tried to get O’Malley over with the fans, to borrow a pro wrestling term, is a long one.
People can go back and forth on that stardom topic until their faces are as blue as the teal in O’Malley’s cornrows Saturday night. O’Malley might not be the next Conor McGregor or anything even close. But he’s unquestionably a great fighter — better than many people give him credit for.
O’Malley’s performance was masterful at UFC 299. He pieced Marlon « Chito » Vera up for five rounds, showing off beautiful footwork and timing. « Suga » landed punches and kicks from multiple angles, including a sniper-like power jab from a stance switch position. O’Malley’s second-round knee up the middle cracked Vera hard and opened up a cut below his right eye.
If people didn’t realize just how excellent a fighter O’Malley is after he knocked out Sterling sublimely seven months ago, it’s hard to deny him after this weekend.
There’s always this disconnect about skill level for those fighters who rise in popularity quickly and get the promotional rocket ship strapped to them by the UFC. They get called a hype train; critics say they’re not nearly as good as the UFC wants people to believe. It happened to McGregor himself and to other big stars like Ronda Rousey. Many doubters sprout up, balancing out the fans who are getting behind them en masse.
Even when McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds to become the UFC featherweight champion, people said it was a fluke. McGregor still doesn’t get the credit he deserves for being as great as he was. It wasn’t until maybe the performance against Eddie Alvarez that McGregor’s biggest critics had to acknowledge his quality.
Saturday wasn’t necessarily an Aldo or Alvarez moment for O’Malley. But to have done what he did against a very good fighter in Vera, combined with the knockout of Sterling last year, he has to get his flowers — preferably pink — for being a fantastic fighter.
Next big star or not. Next McGregor or not. O’Malley is the real deal, and people should start conceding that. — Marc Raimondi
Who should be next: Merab Dvalishvili
I appreciate the callout of Topuria, and if things continue to go well for both, that callout will be a nice piece of content for the sizzle reel. But it’s not happening next, certainly not. I think even O’Malley knows that, which is why he hedged his bet and mentioned Dvalishvili by name in the Octagon. Even coming off this amazing performance, O’Malley is going to face some doubters when he takes on Dvalishvili, simply because Dvalishvili has a buzz saw of a style that feels like every fighter’s kryptonite, not just O’Malley’s.
