UFC 299: O'Malley vs. Vera 2
A little sample drop that went to the pay what you want crew.
What a freaking stacked card! The final card to cap the UFC 200's era just might be better than UFC 300 on deck. UFC 299 has 13 fighters who have held a main event spot in the past sprinkled all the way down to even the early prelims. I will say, matchmakers made a beauty here as several dogs are very live in these pairings, and as we know, styles make fights and I can't wait to see the fallout Saturday night.
After Jake Paul announced he's fighting a 58 year old Mike Tyson, and after Francis Ngannou got completely melted within a few minutes, what the heck could possibly go wrong Saturday night in Miami?
Lets get after it.
UFC 299: O'Malley vs. Vera 2
Saturday 3/9 at 6PM ET
Broadcast: Pay Per View | Prelims: ESPN
Live from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida
Bouts: 14
PREDICTIONS:
MAIN CARD:
O'Malley defeats Vera
First things first.. yes bias on this one. Most of you know I went with Sean's family to Boston to support him last fight with Sterling. To me, that was a tougher matchup than Vera but as we've seen, this sport is super volatile, and Suga got in and out of that one unscathed #andnew. Oddsmakers opened this up with Suga almost 2:1 fav and although I side with the champ, its probably a closer of a fight than that. Maybe if it was a three round fight 2:1, but with 5 rounds, it should be closer. Mentally, Sean had nothing really to lose in that last fight yet a ton to lose in this one. Obviously most importantly his belt and status as the king of the division, but also his only loss is against Chito after the kick caught the nerve and took out his leg and ability to make it to the bell. Sean could legit go 0-2 against this guy and lose a ton of momentum towards the stardom he's built. The dudes a rockstar and has done things right from a financial standpoint building an amazing brand and securing his entire fam. That said though, he's far from content and still very young in his career. Sterling was mentally rattled heading into that fight with Suga after fight week and we saw how that worked out for him. Vera is completely the oppo. He's composed heading into fight day and actually has a handful of the crowd in his corner. What intrigues me the most is what version of Chito will we get out the gates. I say that because Chito was on an 0-8 in round 1 coming into his last fight vs Pedro Munhoz where he finally took the first round and lion's share of strikes landed in that match up. Chito is typically a slow starter but durable as heck and usually makes fight's interesting the later the fight's go. In that Munhoz fight as well, he had a massive reach advantage, one that won't be present here against the longer O'Malley. So more than likely, we can bank on a couple things. If past tape tells us anything, Suga should come out and take the first and possibly added early rounds. It could turn to Vera later though. Usually fighters fade visibly into the 20-25 minutes, but Vera ramps it up. Vera is as durable as they come and has never been finished, put in legit submission danger, or even dropped in a UFC fight. In his "legit" losses, the following has occurred. He was outstruck by a fair margin and/or he was taken down and controlled. I could definitely see Suga outstriking him with the five rounds to work and winning 3+ rounds on pure volume. But if Welch and team had something up their sleeve, imagine what some takedowns and control could do along the way as well. I don't see Vera taking the judges' ink and i'll be shocked to see O'Malley end this one early. This is more of a live betting fight on my end. (O'Malley DEC or Vera late finish)
Saint-Denis defeats Poirier
Interesting this one booked for five rounds. That said, I highly doubt we see this one make the final bell. Both these guys are savages as we know and have no give. This will get bloody or end extra early. Poirier is a dog for signing up to take this up and comer on. BSD is undefeated at the lightweight and is always looking for the finish packing massive power and an ability to submit as opps arise. Statistically, BSD is the hardest hitter on the entire card by far. One thing that is interesting in this one is Porier will be the first southpaw BSD's fought in the UFC which will make set up body kicks interesting. Watch for Poirier and his usual feel out process while BSD looks for the kill shot early. I expect fireworks and if this one gets to the later rounds, it could be all Poirier late. We have to note although Poirier is the toughest test to date for this guy, he's earned all 13 of his wins by stoppage while also riding a five fight stoppage streak, which puts him second amongst active fighters only behind Rakhmonov who's at six. Prior to his MMA career, Benoit Saint-Denis was a French paratrooper and used to jump from planes fighting terrorist groups. This guy has a kill switch and mental game like no other. It will be interesting to see if Poirier can take this one deep or not. (I could see BSD sneak a sub in a wild scramble, but I def see a finish from one of these two in this fight and highly doubt we see this get into 4 or 5)
The rest of the card available on the premium side. Come hang with the squad!
BET CONSIDERATIONS:
7 plays over on premium.
If you are feeling frisky, some guppy plays:
+122 to +1000 listed.
DFS:
PROJECTIONS:
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AUTO OPTO LINES:
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Manual:
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