White: O'Malley 'on his way' to becoming one of UFC's biggest stars ever

UFC CEO Dana White believes Sean O'Malley is on track to becoming one of the biggest draws in promotion history.

O'Malley defended the bantamweight title for the first time at UFC 299 on Saturday night in Miami, blanking Marlon "Chito" Vera on the scorecards to avenge a prior loss.

"He's on his way," White said at the postfight press conference when asked if O'Malley is one of the biggest stars we've ever seen. "He's the biggest star ever in bantamweight history. We can say that right now."

White said UFC 299 was the fourth highest-grossing event in UFC history, with a $14.14 million gate, and called O'Malley-Vera 2 the "biggest bantamweight fight of all time."

"Based off energy, excitement, gate, and pay-per-view - it's by far the biggest fight ever in the bantamweight division," White said.

O'Malley, who has drawn comparisons to former two-division champion Conor McGregor, was considered a potential star as soon as he broke through on Dana White's Contender Series in 2017. O'Malley slowly rose the ranks and captured the 135-pound championship last summer, knocking out Aljamain Sterling. Saturday marked O'Malley's first pay-per-view main event as the A-side.