Significant Stats | UFC 299: O’Malley vs Vera 2

Key Stats: 61.2% significant strike accuracy (6th all-time), +3.89 striking differential (5th all-time), 7.29 strikes landed per minute (1st all-time among BW)

WATCH: UFC 299 Countdown | Sean O'Malley vs Marlon "Chito" Vera

What It Means: “Suga” is a sniper of a striker. He is elite at maintaining distance to make the most of his 5-foot-11 frame and dictating exchanges on the feet. O’Malley also has wonderful vision, speed and timing, which he uses to throw various feints to draw attacks to counter for his own gain. He loves to use a variety of kicks at range, particularly a front kick to his opponent’s body, which he will follow with a combination of punches. Because he maintains distance, he often has his back against the Octagon, but he exhibits good lateral movement so he doesn’t get pinned back with no escape routes. O’Malley has shown solid defensive grappling when opponents do shoot on him.

Marlon "Chito" Vera

Key Stats: 10 knockdowns landed (tied 1st all-time among BW), 10 finishes (1st all-time among BW), 3:59:51 total fight time (1st all-time among BW)

What It Means: “Chito” is a savage finisher with great patience in finding his fight-ending sequence. At times, that can lead to slow starts, but Vera is methodical in how he works. His best weapon is his arsenal of kicks. Low kicks, front kicks to the body, roundhouse kicks to the body and up high, hook kicks, spinning back kicks – Vera uses all of these to great effect. Vera is also quite damaging up close with his use of elbows and knees. At times, he can wait for the perfect shot, which causes him to fight from behind deeper into fights, but his cardio and power carry well late, and he often finds the finishing shot. 

WATCH: Free Fight | Marlon "Chito" Vera vs Sean O'Malley 1

What to Look For in the Fight: Vera used low kicks to great success in the first fight with O’Malley and caused O’Malley to struggle with drop foot, leading to Vera’s TKO win. In the sequel, it should aesthetically look similar to the first fight, with Vera moving forward and O’Malley utilizing lateral movement to maintain distance. O’Malley should have the speed advantage, but since both men are devastating counter strikers — O’Malley more slick but Vera a bit more menacing — the fight could unfold patiently. Vera could mix things up and wrestle to give O’Malley another element to consider, but we saw in O’Malley’s title-winning bout that his defensive grappling holds up well under pressure. O’Malley should have an advantage punching and kicking from distance and create problems with Vera’s footwork, but Vera will likely also start with a kick-heavy attack until he can get into range. 

Co-Main Event: Dustin Poirier vs Benoît Saint Denis

Dustin Poirier

Key Stats: 14 finishes (tied 5th all-time), 6.13 strikes landed per minute (4th), 9 knockdowns landed (tied 3rd)

WATCH: Dustin Poirier Fight Week Interview | UFC 299

What It Means: A true fighter’s fighter, Poirier has seen and done it all in the Octagon for years with an all-action, fan friendly style. He is as slick a boxer as anyone in the organization. From his southpaw stance, “The Diamond” has a powerful jab and lead hook, but he is at his sharpest in the phone booth. He likes to land overhands while switching stances mid-combination to cover distance, and when he is in the pocket, he shows great countering ability. He lands hooks and straight lefts to devastating effect. At distance, he has good low kicks and decent grappling, but Poirier’s hands are definitely his most dangerous weapons. 

Benoît Saint Denis

Key Stats: +3.44 striking differential (1st all-time among LW), 2.15 knockdowns averaged per 15 minutes (1st all-time among LW), 63.3% control time percentage (3rd all-time among LW)

What It Means: Saint Denis is a marauding beast of a lightweight with a well-rounded skillset and good finishing instincts. From his southpaw stance, Saint Denis will blast kicks at all levels, often preceded or followed with a straight left hand. While he likes to duke it out on the feet, he will use the pressure created from his striking to shoot a double-leg and get his opponent to the ground. He exhibits good control from there, transitioning from top pressure to pressure along the fence if his opponent defends well.

UFC 299 Full Fight Card Preview

What to Look For in the Fight: The dueling southpaws should get right into the action. Poirier has shown that he likes to blast low calf kicks against fellow southpaws, and that should slow Saint Denis a bit, but it also invites counters over the top from Saint Denis’ left hand. Both are apt to just close the distance and engage in a slugfest, and that is usually where Poirier is a little bit sharper than his opponents. Saint Denis will probably mix the grappling in early to get Poirier considering that aspect during exchanges.

Other Fights to Watch (Kevin Holland vs Michael “Venom” Page, Curtis Blaydes vs Jailton Almeida)

Kevin Holland

Key Stats: 6.46 strikes landed per minute (4th all-time among WW), 3.22 strikes absorbed per minute, 49% striking accuracy

UFC 299 Embedded

What It Means: Holland is a wild, chatty and talented fighter, particularly on the feet. With a 6-foot-3 frame and an 81-inch reach, Holland loves utilizing a variety of attacks from range. His straight punches carry plenty of power, and he flicks kicks out with frequency. His power at welterweight has been significant, and his grappling has held up better, as well. He can get a little wild with punches when he chases a significant shot, but, for the most part, he can happily go strike-for-strike against anyone.

Michael “Venom” Page

Key Stats: N/A (UFC Debut) 

What It Means: “MVP” is as dynamic, unique and exciting a striker as anyone to enter the UFC in recent years. The closest stylistic comparison to make is to Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, but Page is much more of a showman in fights. He likes to taunt and pull his opponents into lightning-quick combinations with his hands before floating out of the way and back to the center of the cage. 

MORE MICHAEL "VENOM" PAGE: Fight Week Interview | Sitdown Interview With UFC.com | Welcome To The UFC

What to Look For in the Fight: This should be an honest-to-goodness entertaining fight. Both men are known as much for their mid-fight antics as they are for their highlight reel styles of fighting. Holland will invite Page’s movement-heavy style, and he handled Thompson’s karate-heavy movements pretty well for a good chunk of their main event. Page will want to spring into range to land a heavy combo, but Holland has a knack for landing a big punch on people’s exits, so he could catch Page with a big shot there. 

Curtis Blaydes

Key Stats: 74 takedowns (tied 4th all-time), 38.7% control time percentage (3rd), 6.55 takedowns per 15 minutes

WATCH: Every UFC Takedown By Curtis Blaydes

What It Means: Blaydes is a beast of a wrestler and one of the more athletic heavyweights in the division. His gameplan always centers around taking his opponents down and ground-and-pounding his way to victory. He has gotten better at waiting for a window to shoot for a takedown and maintains great top control while looking for elbows and punches. On the feet, he likes to feint level changes before trying to land a 1-2 combination that carries power, as well.

Jailton Almeida

Key Stats: 89% control time percentage (1st all-time), 85.3 top position percentage (1st all-time), 5.14 takedowns averaged per 15 minutes

What It Means: Almeida has run through everyone he has faced to this point because nobody can really stop his grappling attack. He likes to front kick, and maybe probe a punch before diving in on a double-leg or single-leg attack. From there, he gives his opponents very little opportunity to return to their feet.  

RELATED: Fighters on the Rise | UFC 299: O'Malley vs Vera 2

What to Look For in the Fight: Neither Almeida nor Blaydes has spent much time, if any, on their back and on the other side of a grappling exchange, which makes this matchup fascinating. Blaydes is the more battle-tested fighter and has earned finishes in standup situations, but Almeida just hasn’t had to pull those tricks out of the bag yet. Because they are such mirrors for one another stylistically, the fight could play out on the feet. Blaydes’ striking is a hair cleaner, but Almeida absolutely carries fight-finishing power.