The UFC heads to the Kaseya Center in Miami this Saturday for UFC 299. The 14-fight event starts at 6 p.m. ET with the main card beginning at 10 p.m. ET.
The evening will feature plenty of noteworthy fights you can bet on at the best online sportsbooks, including a rematch for the bantamweight title between Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera.
The co-main event features former title challenger Dustin Poirier locking horns with French fighter Benoit Saint-Denis in a five-round contest.
Here’s a look at the main card. Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook and subject to change.
- Main Event: Sean O’Malley (17-1) vs. Marlon Vera (23-8-1)
- Co-Main Event: Dustin Poirier (29-8) vs. Benoit Saint-Denis (13-1)
- Kevin Holland (25-10) vs. Michael Page (21-2)
- Gilbert Burns (22-6) vs. Jack Della Maddalena (16-2)
- Petr Yan (16-5) vs. Yadong Song (21-7-1)
- Prelim highlight: Curtis Blaydes (17-4) vs. Jailton Almeida (20-2)
Bantamweight: O’Malley vs. Vera
- Spread: O’Malley -5.5 (-125) | Vera +5.5 (-105)
- Total Rounds: Over 4.5 (-160) | Under 4.5 (+124)
- Moneyline: O’Malley (-270) | Vera (+220)
- Best Bet: O’Malley by KO/TKO (+240)
O’Malley is set to defend his bantamweight title and avenge the only loss of his 18-fight career.
The 29-year-old lost to Vera via TKO at UFC 252 in 2020. During that matchup, “Chito” focused on O’Malley’s right leg in the first round and earned a TKO finish once the fight hit the mat.
O’Malley has yet to lose a fight since then, with his biggest win being a knockout victory over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 in August 2023. That win gave him the bantamweight championship.
Vera is 5-2 since their first encounter, with wins over former UFC champions Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz. However, the 31-year-old is two fights removed from a lopsided loss to contender Cory Sandhagen at UFC Fight Night in March 2023.
Critics believe this is an undeserved title opportunity, especially with contender Merab Dvalishvili on a nine-fight win streak compared to Vera’s two-fight win streak.
What makes this championship showdown so interesting is that 12 of O’Malley’s 19 wins have come by knockout, while Vera has yet to lose by stoppage in his career.
We think that changes on Saturday due to O’Malley’s elite knockout power.
Look for O’Malley to find his range early in the fight and wear Vera down with power punches en route to a TKO finish (+240) in the third round.
Lightweight: Poirier vs. Saint-Denis
- Spread: Poirier +5.5 (+130) | Saint-Denis -5.5 (-170)
- Total Rounds: Over 1.5 (-245) | Under 1.5 (+185)
- Moneyline: Poirier (+170) | Saint-Denis (-205)
- Best Bet: Saint-Denis by Submission (+150)
Poirier is coming off a knockout loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC 291 — his first knockout loss since 2016.
The American Top Team product’s resume includes wins over Michael Chandler and former champions Conor McGregor (twice) and Eddie Alvarez. That said, he’s 35, so who knows how much he has left in the tank.
He’ll be going against Saint-Denis – one of UFC’s best prospects. The 28-year-old has finished five of his six UFC opponents, with his lone loss coming against Elizeu Zaleski in a short-notice fight where Saint-Denis had to go up a weight class.
A key element to this fight is that it will be contested at five rounds instead of the typical three for a co-main event. That advantage should swing the fight towards Poirer, who has far more five-round experience than the “God of War.”
However, the Frenchman has yet to see the third round since his UFC debut — a trend we expect to continue on Saturday.
We think Saint-Denis will land on Poirier early and knock the American to the canvas. From there, the judo black belt will use his strong ground game to pick up his 10th career victory by submission (+150).
Welterweight: Holland vs. Page
- Spread: Holland -3.5 (+120) | Page +3.5 (-165)
- Total Rounds: Over 2.5 (-175) | Under 2.5 (+135)
- Moneyline: Holland (-130) | Page (+110)
- Best Bet: Holland by Decision (+200)
Page is set to make his highly anticipated UFC debut after going 21-2 in Bellator, Super Fight League and UCMMA.
While the UK standout has 13 career wins via knockout, Holland has never been knocked out during his UFC tenure outside of a TKO doctor’s stoppage loss to Stephen Thompson in 2022.
Holland comes in as a slight favorite (-130) due to being five years younger and having a better catalog of fights.
Despite the fact that Holland has lost three of his last five fights, the “Trailblazer” is the faster fighter and should edge this one out by decision (+200).
Welterweight: Burns vs. Della Maddalena
- Spread: Burns +3.5 (-120) | Della Maddalena -3.5 (-110)
- Total Rounds: Over 2.5 (+124) | Under 2.5 (-160)
- Moneyline: Page (+140) | Della Maddalena (-166)
- Best Bet: Burns by Decision (+450)
It’s easy to see why Della Maddalena is the favorite (-166) considering he’s 6-0 in his UFC career with four stoppage victories. Burns is also 37 years old and is coming off a serious shoulder injury suffered last May.
However, the Brazilian has fought far better opposition, including former champion Kamaru Usman, Belal Muhammad and Khamzat Chimaev.
Maddalena winning by knockout is a trendy bet, but don’t forget Burns has only been finished once since moving up to welterweight in 2019.
Burns should survive an early onslaught from the Australian — like he did against Chimaev — before taking over.
Expect Burns to get back in the win column, outpointing the Contender Series winner with a decision victory (+450).
Bantamweight: Yan vs. Song
- Spread: Song +3.5 (-200) | Yan -3.5 (+150)
- Total Rounds: Over 2.5 (-298) | Under 2.5 (+220)
- Moneyline: Song (+105) | Yan (-125)
- Best Bet: Yan by Decision (+140)
Despite coming into this bout on a three-fight skid, Yan has the edge on the moneyline (-125) in his first fight since March 2023.
The 31-year-old lost two close contests to Sean O’Malley and Aljamain Sterling before losing decisively to Merab Dvalishvili in his last fight.
“No Mercy” is a former UFC champion and has never been finished in 21 career fights.
Song looks to inch one step closer to a title shot after back-to-back wins against Ricky Simon and Chris Gutierrez.
While this fight will be close, Yan is the better striker, which should lead to him winning via decision (+140).
Prelim: Heavyweight: Blaydes vs. Almeida
- Spread: Blaydes -3.5 (+120) | Almeida +3.5 (-165)
- Total Rounds: Over 1.5 (-160) | Under 1.5 (+124)
- Moneyline: Blaydes (-110) | Almeida (-110)
- Best Bet: Blaydes by Decision (+350)
These two were scheduled to fight last November before Blaydes suffered an ankle injury and was replaced by Derrick Lewis. Almeida defeated Lewis in a lackluster decision victory.
Blaydes suffered a first-round knockout loss at the hands of Sergei Pavlovich last April, snapping a four-fight win streak.
While Almeida has seven career knockout wins, he isn’t as much of a threat on the feet like Pavlovich.
Expect Blaydes to use his superior wrestling and athleticism to take home his sixth career decision victory (+350).
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