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The UFC’s 2024 schedule has seen some exciting fight announcements in recent weeks. Quite a few titles have changed hands in 2023, thereby opening up many divisions and making way for fresh matchups.
UFC 299 will be the third pay-per-view event of 2024. It will take place on March 9, 2024. The city and the venue for the event have not been announced so far. At face value, it may seem like the event will be overshadowed by the milestone UFC 300 pay-per-view event that takes place in April 2024. However, the cards that go under the radar usually deliver great fights.
As of the time of writing, only two fights have been announced for the event. Bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley will attempt the first defence of his title against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera. This is a rematch of their August 2020 fight that Vera won by a first-round TKO.
O'Malley never accepted the loss and called out ‘Chito’ immediately after capturing the title with a stunning knockout of Aljamain Sterling in August 2023. Meanwhile, Vera bounced back from the Cory Sandhagen loss and defeated Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision on the same night.
Another bantamweight showdown between Pedro Munhoz and Kyler Phillips has been announced for the event. Munhoz has hit a rough patch in his career off late, winning only two of his last eight fights.
Coming off the Marlon Vera loss, he will try to get back in the win column. His opponent, Kyler Phillips, is a young contender with an 11-2 record as a pro. A potential win over Munhoz will be the biggest of his career so far.
Former bantamweight champion wants to make a comeback at UFC 299
Sean O’malley was fast tracked to the bantamweight title because of an ultra high-risk fight against former champion Petr Yan. Ranked 11th at the time, O'Malley challenged the then no.1-ranked Russian fighter and pulled off a hard fought decision win in October 2022.
Yan has been struggling to find his footing in the division since, and has lost four of his last five fights. The sudden fall from grace after amassing seven straight wins in the promotion has stripped the former champion of the aura of invincibility he once possessed.
In a recent post on ‘X’, Petr Yan expressed a desire to make a comeback at UFC 299. He wrote:
“UFC 299 sounds good for the comeback.”
It is unclear if the promotion is working on including him on the card. That being said, the card does appear to be somewhat of a bantamweight showcase and so, we may very well see Yan back in action come UFC 299.
