Sean O'Malley vs Marlon Vera - UFC 299: 'Suga' delivers 25-minute masterclass to dominate Marlon Vera at UFC 299 in Miami and defend bantamweight title, after Dustin Poirier's incredible KO

Vera showed so much grit and heart tonight but the skills weren't able to match up. There's no shame in that and I'm sure he's earned plenty of new fans along the way.

What a fight this could be... Topuria just demolished Volkanovski to win the featheweight title and now O'Malley wants a piece of him in what could be a massive event in Spain.

O'Malley is growing as a champion and even though the colourful personality and showmanship is a distraction, people are beginning to realise he is a real grafter too, working relentlessly hard to improve and we're seeing the fruits of his labour. It'll take some stopping him.

Vera landed his best shot of the fight with a left hook to the body right at the final bell. It makes O'Malley sink to the mat where he stays after the fight to gather his senses but it was too little, too late from the challenger and a masterclass for the champion. Scorecards incoming.

Marlon Vera is being pieced up. He's having occasional success but O'Malley is masterfully evading most of the heavy shots being flung his way. The champion is four rounds up and doesn't need to take any unnecessary risks.

Vera is hunting for a messy fight now and needs chaos to have any chance of an upset. O'Malley is comfortable and his footwork is superior enough for him to dance around and land almost at will. At the end of the third, Vera had his best moment, wobbling the champion who then went back to the wrong corner, a glimmer of hope?

O'Malley is on fire! He is so much quicker than Vera - who's corner tells him 'that sucked' at the end of the second. The champion caught his challenger with a knee that should have knocked him clean out. Somehow the Ecuadorian is still standing but is bloodied up and can't carry on like this.

O'Malley is looking slick so far and is clearly investing in the body, ripping it with punches and straight kicks. Vera is content to get his reads in and grasp the timing. His coach Jason Perillo is asking for more body work of his own in the second round.

We're moments away from the headliner in Miami - Buffer hits his marks as usual and the crowd are right up for it. How long will this 25 minute bout go? O'Malley has the finishing power but Vera is unpredictable and can change a fight at any moment.

O'Malley's striking stats are frightening, but Vera has beaten him once and is fully capable of doing so again. Here's a closer look at the numbers behind both men.

Here we go then! Poirier's stunning KO is a tough act to follow but O'Malley is a sniper and capable of doing just that. Chito Vera looks supremely composed as he heads out to the cage and there are plenty of his fans in from Ecuador for what could be an historic night.

Poirier: 'I was getting beat up a bit. He was pretty strong. I took he fight because he finished his last five and he's dangerous with a never say die attitude. It's the nature of the beat, it's what we do. Respect to him, sacrifice doesn't go unnoticed.'

Poirier comes through a storm to win by a stunning knockout. 22 UFC wins for 'Diamond' and he remains one of the very best. He stunned him with an uppercut before putting the Frenchman away with his right hook. Brilliant.

Brilliant, ferocious first rounfd from the Frenchman. God of War is a hell of a nickname to live up to but he does. He marches relentlessly forwards, landing knees, elbows and short punches. Poirier threatens with two guillotines but he is able to shake them off.

A big night for Poirier. He is probably the most accomplished fighter to never win the belt and he's not giving up on that dream just yet.

Poirier has done pretty much everything in the game other than win a championship. He's never lost two in a row and is fully motivated to stop the charge of this incredibly savage Frenchman, who called out 'Diamond' and has had his wish granted.

MVP plays his game so well and Holland can hardly touch him. He cuts a frustrated, exhausted figure by the end of the third and in the end it was a bit of a clinic from the former Bellator man. He'll be frustrated at being unable to finish Holland but it was a very impressivee UFC debut nontheless.

MVP is taken down and Holland threatens a submission in a big momentum swing but the Brit manages to escape back to his feet where he was able to connect with a massive right hand before tripping the American over. If this stays on the feet for the third it should be MVP's fight.

Page is being walked down by Holland but evading him well and handling the clinch situations effectively. He landed some impressive shots, lunging in to close the distance in addition to throwing unorthodox strikes. I'd give the Brit the opener.

Hood up, MVP allows the tension to build before slowly dancing his way to the cage and interacting with fans along the way. Can he back it up with a performance to match?

Michael 'Venom' Page is not the typical debutant. He's 36, has a wealth of top level experience and is about to walk to the octagon for the first time. He's an elite striker and it will be fascinating to see how he'll fare against Kevin Holland.

Maddalena: 'My plan was to come here, grab the cash and dash. There's some scary people in this division but I'm one of the scariest and how about me against Rakmanhov as a title eliminator?'

Burns lands on top and looks like he could burn the clock to victory but Maddalena escapes beautifully before landing an incredibly well placed knee on the break. He then swarms and lands a number of elbows before the ref intervenes. Such an impressive win for him and the welterweight division has a new contender.

Maddalena connects with some beautiful combinations and is on top for most of the round but the big moments belong to the Brazilian. He landed a big step in elbow and overhand right, also securing another late takedown and ending up on the Australian's back before running out of time.

Maddalena is calculated and doesn't load up on any of his shots. He's the cleaner striker for my money but Burns takes him down twice in the round and ends it on top with one huge ground and pound shot which could have influenced the judges, a tough one to call.

How far can Maddalena go? The Aussie has been a rising force at welterweight for some time and beat Kevin Holland last time out. Burns, who lives in Florida, will have the crowd on his side against the talented striker from Perth.

The former president, a Florida resident, is in the building and flashes up on the big screen walking to his seat alongside Dana White. He's given a strong reception from the locals which is no surprise.

'Thank you so much for supporting me,' Yan says. 'It was very important win for me tonight, I am back. I want hard fights with tough opponents.'

Cracking fight. It looks like Yan has done enough to reverse his fortunes from the first round. He ends the fight on top after a pretty even three minutes and even locks up a submission before the bell sounds. His uppercut was on the money all night and thee Russian has proven he's still a top contender at bantamweight.

The Russian had a rocket from his corner at the end of the first and it worked a treat. He came out for the second willing to engage far more and land first, crucially before Song can lead the combinations. It all comes down to the final five minutes and Song has a nasty cut to his eyelid.

Song Yadong takes the opening round for my money. It is largely a cagey affair but he lands the more telling blows and doesn't seem to respect Yan's power, knowing he can control the centre of the cage. Song also takes his man down and thee 26-year-old is looking solid so far.

This guy looked unbeatable for a while but Yan's career has stalled a bit in recent times. He lost to Sterling, O'Malley and then Dvalishvili and will be desperate not to make it four defeats in succession tonight against the powerful Song Yadong.

O'Malley has come a long way since his first loss to Vera so there could well be some value in an early stoppage, especially as Vera is notoriously a slow starter.

Order of play:

Petr Yan vs Song Yadong

Gilbert Burns vs Jack Della Maddalena

Kevin Holland vs Michael Page

Dustin Poirier vs Benoit Saint Denis

Sean O'Malley vs Marlon Vera

Blaydes has barely been in the fight but wins it in the space of about 10 seconds. Almeida shoots for a takedown but it is stuffed and puts his head in a poor position. Blaydes then lands a number of unanswered hammer fists in succession and it is enough to end the fight. Wow.

Almeida grapples the hell out of Blaydes in the first, exhausting him and not allowing a moment to breathe. The crowd don't like it and want to see more action but the Brazilian controlled him at close quarters and returned his opponent to the mat seemingly at will.

Almeida and Blaydes are part of the young gun generation at heavyweight. Both men will have watched Aspinall beat Pavlovich and feel they aren't too far away from a shot themselves. Blaydes of course beat Aspinall on a technicality when they met in London and the Brit was injured early on. Almeida is a hugely powerful contender but today will be his biggest test so far. Wonderboy is taking the American.

Maybe there's a main event slot next for Barber, who brushes aside Cerminara at flyweight. The American is likely to be a top five-ranked fighter next week.

It always looks undeniably cool when pulled off, but with ACL tearing potential when it isn't. Kyler Phillips managed to execute his perfectly tonight after beating Pedro Munhoz. Gaethje's backflip off the cage is another level of insanity all together.

This man is 6ft 7in and has a reach of 87in, the longest in the UFC. He's still early on in his MMA career but looks to be a brilliant prospect and freakish athlete. A winning start to his life in the big show tonight.

RDA was once upon a time a man who nobody wanted to face but the veteran is no longer in his prime, far from it. That said, Gamrot and his relentless wrestling has caused everyone problems and even though he's not the most exciting fighter in the world, he's mightily effective.

Will it be revenge or repeat later on? O'Malley's only career defeat is one he discounts as a fluke, but Vera landed the leg kick that compromised him fair and square, what odds of him repeating the trick tonight? Here's what the numbers how about both men...

Joanne Wood opened up the early pre-lims with a decision win over Maryna Moroz before Assu Almabayev saw off CJ Vergara by the same means.

Then the highly anticipated debut for the enormous Robelis Despaigne ended in a first round KO victory for the Cuban and Michel Pereira beat Michal Oleksiejczuk.

It's always fascinating to see how fellow UFC fighters see a main event and interestingly, opinion is split despite bookies favouring the champion.

UFC 299 has arrived! The big, bad UFC 300 card comes next month but for my money tonight's event isn't a million miles away from it in terms of depth and quality. Keep it here for all the latest updates from the pre-lims and main card ahead of Sean O'Malley's title defence against Marlon Vera later on in the headliner.