Miami is a city where big stars command big spotlights, and Saturday night at Kaseya Center, one of the biggest ascending talents in the UFC, bantamweight champion “Suga” Sean O’Malley, will be front and centre for his first title defence.
O’Malley’s clash with Marlon “Chito” Vera to close out UFC 299 has garnered the lion’s share of the attention in the preamble to this weekend’s return to pay-per-view, and with plenty of good reason.
The champion is a lightning rod within the MMA community, a legitimate social media star, and he’s stepping in against the only man to beat him thus far in a hand-picked matchup for the first defence of the bantamweight title he claimed back in August with a clean second-round knockout win over Aljamain Sterling.
In many ways, this fight feels like a crossroads moment for how people will perceive O’Malley going forward, as a win further legitimizes his place atop the division and adds another win to his already sterling record, but a loss will crank up the volume on the questions that are still being asked about his strength of schedule and his claim to the throne.
But while the main event principals are primed to close out the show in style, there are a host of emerging names and exciting competitors slated to step into the Octagon on the undercard that have a real opportunity to make a whole bunch of noise and a bigger name for themselves before O’Malley and Vera renew acquaintances with the bantamweight strap hanging in the balance.
We’re here to help you familiarize yourself with them ahead of this weekend’s festivities.
Benoit Saint Denis
There are going to be people that parachute in to watch this event and wonder, “Who’s this French guy fighting Dustin Poirier?” because they’re unfamiliar with the exploits of Saint Denis but trust me when I tell you that the French lightweight is a legitimate threat in the 155-pound weight class.
A former member of the French Army Special Forces Command, the 28-year-old “God of War” has been wreaking havoc since returning to lightweight following his promotional debut in the welterweight division.
Five fights, five wins, five finishes, all without seeing the third round, and all while continuing to work forward in the divisional hierarchy, culminating in a first-round head kick knockout of Matt Frevola at Madison Square Garden in November. Saint Denis has been to the scorecards once in his career, and that was in his UFC debut, where he took an hellacious beating in a fight that probably should have been stopped two or three different times, which tells you what kind of uncommon durability and tenacity he brings with him into the Octagon.
Poirier is unquestionably the A-side here and a step up in competition, but Saint Denis has the kind of menacing pressure approach that unsettles his opponents, and he is more than capable of extending his winning streak to six by adding “The Diamond” to the list of opponents he’s sent to The Shadow Realm.
Michael “Venom” Page
After an 11-year, 19-fight run under the Bellator MMA banner, “MVP” touches down in the Octagon this weekend in a clash with Kevin Holland that is guaranteed to be wildly entertaining.
Page is a showman. From his walkouts and post-fight celebrations to the way he operates inside the cage, everything is about providing maximum entertainment while trying his very best to post another victory, preferably in some kind of viral manner. The night he dented the head of Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos still resonates with hardcore fans several years later, and while there is always chatter about the level of competition he’s fought, the fact of the matter is that Page arrives in the UFC with a 21-2 record where each of his losses were in championship fights, one was a split decision on the scorecards and the other he avenged two years later.
Yes, he was given a chance to style on some folks along the way, but is that really such a bad thing? Are we not here to be entertained?
The pairing with Holland is perfect because the Texas “Trailblazer” also prioritizes entertaining above all else, and should be more than happy to engage the 36-year-old newcomer in a striking battle in the middle of the main card.
The UFC has been pushing Page’s arrival and debut hard in the last several weeks, and win or lose, expect him to be one of the fighters fans are talking about most once the smoke clears and the dust settles after this weekend.
Jack Della Maddalena
It’s fitting that Della Maddalena follows Page in this list of impressive talents to watch on Saturday because the streaking Australian is the polar opposite of the British welterweight that will step into the Octagon after him.
The 27-year-old Della Maddalena is a picture of consistency inside the cage, posting three wins in each of his first two years on the UFC roster after graduating to the big stage through Dana White’s Contender Series, working his way into the top 15, where he currently sits at No. 11 ahead of his bout with Gilbert Burns.
Calling the quiet man from Perth a “meat and potatoes” fighter might sound like an insult to some, but it’s simply a reference to the fact that Della Maddalena deploys sharps fundamentals and zero flash. It’s the basics, but it’s the basics at the absolute top level, and it has produced a staggering 16-fight winning streak overall.
This weekend’s matchup with Burns is a fascinating clash with a former title challenger and established top-five talent; the kind of matchup Della needs in order to elevate his profile and his stock in the shifting welterweight division.
His last two efforts of 2023 — split decision wins over Bassil Hafez and Kevin Holland — slowed his momentum a little, but a strong performance and seventh straight UFC victory over “Durinho” in Miami would thrust the unassuming Australian into the thick of the championship chase in the 170-pound weight class.
Jailton Almeida
Quite a few people were quick to criticize Almeida for his inability to finish Derrick Lewis in their main event clash this past November in Sao Paulo, with the effort prompting some to give up their seats on the “Malhadinho” bandwagon.
Those folks may come to rue their decision as the 32-year-old Brazilian heavyweight has a chance to make a big statement in a featured preliminary matchup with Curtis Blaydes.
Prior to that lopsided win over Lewis, Almeida had posted five straight stoppage wins, going from an intriguing light heavyweight prospect coming of the Contender Series to a svelte heavyweight smashing machine that forced his way into the top 10 with a first-round submission win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik last May.
Now he’s paired back up with Blaydes, his original dance partner for that November engagement in Brazil, with the opportunity to punch his way into the top five with a victory. As much as his performance against Lewis left something to be desired for some, all of that can be erased with a return to his finishing ways this weekend.
Maycee Barber
Over the last couple fights, Barber has morphed from a somewhat frustrating young talent to watch to must-see TV now that she’s tightened up her striking and learned to lean into the tenacity and grit she carries with her into the Octagon.
Entering this weekend’s matchup with former title challenger Katlyn Cerminara (née Chookagian) on a five-fight winning streak, Barber’s last bout with Amanda Ribas is all you need to see to get fired up for what she brings to the table in Miami this weekend and going forward in her career.
While Ribas landed a bunch of quality shots of her own, busting up Barber, the 25-year-old American continually, happily pushed the action and waded into the fire, offering big shots in return that had the Brazilian leaking badly. When she got the fight to the deck in the second round and sensed an opportunity to finish, Barber unleashed a torrent of elbows that sealed the deal, flashing a unique level of aggression and finishing prowess for the flyweight division.
Cerminara is as tested as they come, and her point-fighting approach has frustrated many a hopeful over the years, but if Barber can make this grimy and force the action, she has the skills and sandpaper to push her winning streak to six with a statement win on Saturday night in Miami.
Michel Pereira
Pereira feels like a forgotten man now that he’s toned down his approach in the Octagon from “complete lunatic and daredevil acrobat” to “occasional agent of chaos with sharp fundamentals,” but he arrives to UFC 299 riding a six-fight winning streak and poised to make noise in the middleweight division.
After getting banished to the 185-pound ranks following a weight management issue last summer at UFC 291, the dynamic Brazilian absolutely ran through Andre Petroski in his first appearance as a UFC middleweight, stopping the grappler from Philly in just 66 seconds. Folks were targeting Pereira as a dark horse contender in the welterweight ranks after he got things moving in the right direction again following his surprising losses to Tristan Connelly (decision) and Diego Sanchez (DQ), and it honestly feels like the hype around him should be even greater now that he’s competing at 185.
Pereira is still a physically imposing figure with uncanny athleticism, speed, and power, and if he runs through Michal Oleksiejczuk this weekend — which is absolutely possible — there are going to be tenured names in the top 15 going out of their way to avoid getting paired up with the punishing Brazilian in the second half of 2024. He has the skills to be a contender and is always entertaining, so be sure to pay attention to him this weekend.
Robelis Despaigne
The heavyweight division can always use new names with intriguing upside and Despaigne ticks both boxes.
A bronze medalist in taekwondo at the 2012 Summer Olympics, the 35-year-old from Cuba made his MMA debut in June 2022 under the Titan FC banner, earning a TKO victory with six seconds remaining in the opening round. Last year, Despaigne fought three times and won three times, spending a grand total of 19 seconds in the cage.
Nineteen seconds.
His fights lasted 12 seconds, four seconds, and three seconds.
Now, he was fighting debuting fighters, so that has to be taken into account, but if you’re telling me there is a world-class striker that has been settling fools in a flash stepping into the Octagon this weekend in Miami, I’m tuning in.
Despaigne takes on Josh Parisian in what feels like a showcase opportunity for the debuting “Bad Boy,” and if he keeps doing anything close to what he’s been doing, there are going to be plenty of people talking about him Monday morning.
