Sean O'Malley RETAINS Bantamweight title via UNANIMOUS DECISION | UFC 299 Recap | CBS Sports

it is Revenge in the rematch sugan om

Ali oh my gosh just a brutal knee to the

head of chto Vera in round two and Shawn

om Ali put on a master class he was

surgical in five rounds wins via

unanimous decision avenging the only

loss of his professional career to that

man Chito Vera some four years ago at

UFC

252 om Ali said he didn't count that

loss he erased it on this night in

Miami get some in analysis welcoming CBS

Sports combat analyst and co-host of the

award-winning morning combat Brian

Campbell sugar Shan Ali avenges the only

loss of his professional career defeats

Cho Vera as he makes the first title

defense of his bantamweight Championship

delivered a brutal knee to the head of

Vera it sounded like a metal bat taking

a baseball 400 ft he was surgical they

kept saying master class on the

broadcast BC what did you see in this

amazing fight from suar Shan Ali yeah

this was sha Ali at his finest a

virtuoso striking performance but even

though it wasn't perfectly clean meaning

Vera did finally have two big moments

bloodying the nose of om Ali in round

four and of course the big body shot in

the closing seconds of round five which

certainly was too little too late that

also showed the toughness the durability

the full maturity for this Champion sha

Ali a top the sports steepest division

firmly in the midst of the top 10

pound-for-pound and now adds one title

defense to his Ledger and Redeeming the

only Pro defeat four years ago his

Evolution has been tremendous we've

always known about his commercial upside

and his ability to draw large audiences

and his flashy style but this is what he

does best surgical breakdowns a master

of distance and faints Marlon Vera had

the potential to be a very tough out

with that bully mentality but when it

came down to skill versus skill this was

a lopsided Affair well we knew that choa

could go into the deep Waters and we

knew that if walii was going to outlast

him he was going to have to take some

some brutal blows and he did there at

the end he said yeah that was a good one

he got me on that one then after the

fight what does he do he calls out ilot

Toria um to use your line inject it into

my veins right now two knockout artists

are you kidding me but he would have to

move up a weight class does this happen

how does it happen you know it depends

on what the UFC wants because here's the

deal they don't need to do this they

don't need to match up two of their most

valuable Commodities as not only

defending Champions but star power we

know what Ilia choria can now bring to

the UFC with his audiences in Spain

where he lives now and of course in the

rising MMA hopit of Georgia where where

he's from although he was technically

born in Germany the difference here in

this case is look it's a strong star

move from Ali he knows his value he

knows how this business operates when

you move up in waight and dare to be

great you gain respect you gain big

paydays and opportunity but if you lose

we don't always hold it against you

right similar to when Alex Vander

volkanovski before losing his

featherweight title went up in we and

twice fought Islam maev the

pound-for-pound k the lightweight

champion the one thing about this though

that you don't love if you're a fan of

Ali or a Critic of him is that he can

say that and that's a star power move if

the UFC would be willing to do it but

he's got a number one contender in his

own division in the form of morab deales

V who is arguably the uncrowned King

right now and maybe the most dominant

fighter in this division at the moment

it took him a while to get his own

positioning to get a title shot because

his best friend in training partner Al

Germaine Sterling was Champion for a

while but Sterling got knocked out by

Ali that's the fight to make in the

sports hottest division you love the

idea from M Ali good star power good

idea the UFC doesn't need to do it and

morab is knocking big time right now

yeah that makes the most sense and look

that would be an entertaining fight as

well and it makes sense from a dollar

sense it makes sense from a promotion

sense I couldn't agree more but maybe

maybe one day we get that maybe if he

cleans out the division which could take

some time maybe and Ilia does his part

and we then we get that of down the road

road and we get that super fight we got

a heck of a fight from Dustin porier in

the co-main event he reminds everyone

he's still here knocks out Ben Wa Stony

with a vicious right hook in the second

round I'm running around The Newsroom

with this is happening and I'm I'm

shouting and screaming because he's

still here BC your reaction was what to

when you saw that I mean look this is

what he's known for this is what he's

all about we almost rote him off two

fights ago against Michael Chandler in

Madison Square Garden when he endured

hell and blood and walked through and

got the wind this one was even more

violent going against him he was

dominated by Ben wasand Den for a round

and a half a physical lumbering Force

who was able to dominate porier on the

feet backing him up to the cage and

hurting him and also on the ground with

multiple submission threats and attempts

but the thing about Dustin porier you

don't get the reputation as being an

American hero an all action Legend a a

future Hall of Famer living legend one

of the reare fighters by the way who's

never won an Undisputed UFC title but we

don't hesitate to say future Hall of

Famer first ballot this is why 35 years

old no problem at all Rising stud and Su

Dene who'd finished all five of his last

opponents to get to this point

apparently no problem at all the idea

that Dustin porier is not done

contending at at the top of this

division speaks to the longevity it

speaks to the toughness the character

the grit we've had Heroes like this in

the past Randy Couture Chuck Liddell

Dustin porier fits into that lineage

very well Max Holloway another one only

he's not done yet 30th career win 22nd

in the UFC nine Knockouts in the

lightweight division which is tied for

most all time he improves to 5-2 as a

UFC Underdog don't bet get him uh bet

against him dog is barking in Miami the

big question next is does he have a

title run left in the

tank it's hard I mean Styles make fight

matchups make fights it's difficult

because look coming into this fight he

had lost two of his last three and been

finished in those fights one a BMF title

rematch against Justin gaii and the

other his second crack at the full

Championship when he was finished by

former King Charles

Ola what helps him is the idea that he's

yet to fight the champion in this

division but what hurts him is that

champion is Islam mahv who is the best

fighter in the world pound-for-pound

really without debate or question at the

moment this does bode well though

because the thing about porier Bel

nobell although he did one time hold

that interim title is he's a star a

proven pay-per-view brand he's fought

Conor McGregor three times finished him

twice I think he's not done I think this

could very well lead him to the top

although we're going to have Charles ala

against Rising Arman suian at the next

pay-per-view there's a lot of uh company

at the top of this division but what

more could you ask of porier than to

take that beating from The Young fighter

a fight that he didn't even need to

accept when you have his star power at

his age you can wait by the phone and

hope something falls through and you'll

get the next title shot instead he went

back to the drawing board and said who's

next in line who have I not faced who's

making noise let me take care of

him what do you say I mean that's

alleged and that's a hero right there

only he's still living he's still active

he's still with it tough Hill to climb

against mahv if he gets that chance but

never C out Dustin bore never the

35-year-old goes from a brutal head kick

knockout

loss to a right hook knockout to his

opponent I I mean you want to talk about

a bounceback that BC is a bounceback

also on the main card former Bellator

star Michael Venom page making his UFC

debut defeats Kevin Holland be unanimous

ision in a welterweight bout how' MVP

look to you in his UFC debut oh in a

word h

spectacular all the things that mvp does

well set you up with shots you don't see

coming entertain the crowd Dart in and

out at lightning speed at 36 years old

he looked like he still has it at the

very top shelf obviously he was jazzed

up for this debut and a very difficult

task in fact he was a slight betting

Underdog against Kevin Holland but Kevin

Holland did not looked to take the fight

to the ground which was his strength he

ended up with a key taked down when MVP

made an early mistake but really never

made that part of his attack and when

you choose to Paw and faint and joust

with MVP this guy's too quick this guy's

too Dynamic you heard Kevin Holland many

times talking to his corner be between

rounds saying look he's faster than we

thought he was MVP made a big statement

and a lot of noise remember he's not

going to be here for a long time like

Michael Chandler at this age 36 years

old following en Chandler's footsteps

coming over from Bellator but he can

make a lot of noise in a short time with

that exciting style and this ability to

do things you've never seen coming

before whether you're a fan or you're

the fighter standing across from him UFC

299 was awesome now we look ahead to UFC

300 next month in Vegas Alex Pereira

will face Jamal Hill in the main event

at UFC 300 it is a banger of a card if

this is what a preview of what that will

be sign me up I cannot wait for that

next month in Vegas BC here on CBS

Sports HQ thank you my

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