Alright, folks. We’ve got some exciting news from the UFC world. Two major matchups have been confirmed for UFC 299. Jailton Almeida is set to face off against Curtis Blaydes in the heavyweight division. On the other side, we have Mateusz Gamrot meeting Rafael dos Anjos in the lightweight category.
Now, this is interesting. The Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed these bouts on Tuesday. UFC 299 is scheduled for March 9. The main event? A bantamweight title tilt featuring Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera.
Here’s a bit of history for ya. Almeida and Blaydes were originally supposed to clash at UFC Fight Night 231 in Sao Paulo. But, alas, Blaydes had to pull out due to injury. Instead, Almeida sailed to a five-round verdict against Derrick Lewis in the card’s new main event. “Maladinho” is on a roll with 15 consecutive wins, including six in UFC competition.
Blaydes? He was last seen at UFC Fight Night 222 in April. Unfortunately, his three-bout winning streak was snapped by a first-round technical knockout loss to Sergei Pavlovich. But don’t count “Razor” out. He’s 12-4 in the Octagon, with victories over big names like Tom Aspinall, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alexander Volkov, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, and Mark Hunt, to name a few.
What about Gamrot? He’s won six of his last seven Octagon appearances. His only defeat during that stretch was a unanimous decision against Beneil Dariush at UFC 280. The former KSW champ is 2-0 in 2023 with victories over Jalin Turner and Rafael Fiziev.
As for dos Anjos, the 39-year-old has competed at both lightweight and welterweight under the UFC banner. In his last outing, the former 155-pound champion lost a unanimous verdict to Vicente Luque in the UFC on ESPN 51 headliner on Aug. 12.
So, there you have it. UFC 299 is shaping up to be a thrilling event. Can’t wait to see how it unfolds!