Sean O'Malley, Marlon Vera's Next Best Fights After UFC 299 Results

Sean O'Malley secured his first title defense and a little bit of revenge with a comprehensive unanimous decision win over Marlon "Chito" Vera at the main event of UFC 299 from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.

O'Malley avenged the only loss of his career and confirmed that he's the best 135-pounder in the world... for now.

The 135-pound division is rarely short on contenders. O'Malley had to make his way through multiple tough opponents just to get to this point. The division still has plenty of talented fighters who are waiting to get their crack at the title.

Vera was one of those contenders. He came up short on Saturday night but he still holds a win over O'Malley on his resume and he's far from done with his career. A few wins and he could be right back in the picture.

So what's next for both of the UFC 299 main eventers? Let's take a look at the best option for each.

O'Malley: Merab Dvalishvili

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Merab Dvalishvili weighing in at UFC 299

O'Malley will get to enjoy this win and the fact that he has not beaten everyone he's ever seen in the game, but the next challenge is right around the corner.

In this case, the next challenge was also at the Kaseya Center this weekend. Merab Dvalishvili should be next up and he was the backup fighter for the title fight on Saturday night.

It's pretty hard to deny that Dvalishvili should be the next one up. He's on a 10-fight win streak that was punctuated with a unanimous decision victory over Henry Cejudo less than a month ago.

Dvalishvili came to make the weight cut and be on hand in case something happened to O'Malley or Vera before the fight.

Fortunately, both O'Malley and Vera made it to Miami without a hitch. Not only did we get to see this rematch but that also means we will get to see Dvalishvili get his shot with more than just a few weeks to prepare.

Dvalishvili presents an interesting stylistic matchup with O'Malley. His relentless pace and close-quarter fighting are diametrically opposed to O'Malley's free-flowing striking game.

O'Malley is a flashy, fun striker who is becoming one of UFC's biggest stars. Dvalishvili is the unstoppable machine in the division right now with a workman's game

Pairing him with O'Malley is the biggest bantamweight fight that can be made right now.

Vera: Yadong Song

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Yadong Song lost to Petr Yan at UFC 299

Vera came up short in his first shot at a UFC title, but he can't be completely discounted. The score between himself and the champion now stands at one apiece. It isn't hard to envision a day where a trilogy fight becomes marketable.

That's going to require a few wins, though.

The bantamweight division has plenty of contenders and that makes it difficult to jump right back into the picture.

Dvalishvili is the obvious challenger, but Cory Sandhagen is lurking too. Sandhagen beat Vera via split decision just under a year ago but he hasn't fought since August when he suffered a torn tricep in a win over Rob Font.

It would make the most sense to pair Vera with another fighter who lost a big bantamweight bout at UFC 299. Yadong Song was on the losing end of a unanimous decision against Petr Yan to open up the main card.

The two fought back in 2020 and put on a Fight of the Night in a decision win for Song. Running that fight back would give both the opportunity to get back in the picture and the fans another chance to see a fun matchup.