Robert Whittaker breaks down UFC 299 main event

With UFC 299 just days away, more and more fighters are weighing in on the main event rematch between bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera.  One of those breaking down he matchup and revealing their pick was former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker.  

Vera (23-8-1) is ranked fifth in the division but holds a win over O’Malley.  “Chito” stopped O’Malley in the first round of their UFC 254 bout back in August 2020.  It’s a loss O’Malley (17-1, 1 NC) wants to avenge.  

“I am so uncertain because I do believe his is going to be a fight that is dictated by who turns up,” Whittaker said on the MMArcade podcast.  “It is so hard to put a pin on.  I will say, though, as a betting man, if I had to favor someone, I’m going to favor Sean O’Malley.”  

“Almost every one of his fights I put him down as my pick because he has an uncanny way to find chins.  He has impeccable timing and accuracy with those shots that have the power to switch people off.  He’s so hard to get a read on because of his movement, his stance switching, and his spacing is near perfect,” Whittaker continued.  

While Whittaker may be favoring O’Malley, he was quick to point out that Vera could win.  He’s already beaten O’Malley once.  

“As we saw in their first fight, if you’re a dog and you make it a dog fight and you make it aggressive and violent, Vera is there for that.  Vera is very much there for that type of fight,” Whittaker said.  “If Sean doesn’t have as much success in finding the chin, or doing the damage and earning the respect he needs to keep that space where he can kind of play in the range that he wants, he not going to have a lot of fun because Vera – You can see it in Vera’s eyes.  You can see it in the way he fights – He’s a dog.  He’s going to get in there and he wants violence.”     

“I would favor Sean.  He’s my pick for this fight but I can very much see Vera just being a dog.  Much like the Petr Yan fight, it becoming a much closer and harder fight than Sean is used to.  And over five rounds, I don’t know what that looks like,” Whittaker said.