Marlon Vera dismisses Sean O’Malley’s resume ahead of ‘Sugar’s’ UFC title fight: “Who has he been in a fight with?”
Marlon Vera isn’t sold on Sean O’Malley being deserving of a UFC bantamweight title opportunity.
O’Malley is set to challenge Aljamain Sterling for the UFC Bantamweight Championship on August 19. The two will collide in the main event of UFC 292. The action will be held inside the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Sean O’Malley has gone 4-0, 1 NC in his last five outings, but his former opponent Vera isn’t impressed. Marlon Vera defeated Sean O’Malley via first-round TKO back in 2020. Since that fight, “Chito” has gone 4-2. While he’s expected to meet Henry Cejudo at UFC 292, the bout is in question as “Triple C” doesn’t know if he’ll be healed in time.
Sean O’Malley’s Credentials Questioned By Marlon Vera
During an appearance on “The MMA Hour,” Marlon Vera spoke to Ariel Helwani and discussed Sean O’Malley’s title shot. It’s clear that “Chito” isn’t impressed by what the “Sugar” show has done (h/t MMAJunkie).
“I get it,” Vera continued. “You got talent, you got all this hype, we’re in the YouTube and TikTok era. You got a couple kids that follow you in that world but fighting-wise, you didn’t fight nobody. And then you grab Yan after a no-contest. Yes, you looked good in the Yan fight. People were expecting less from you. Yan can still fight but how good is he? Who has he beat? Who has he been in a fight with?
“That one punch thing won’t last forever. We saw it with Johnny Hendricks, maybe three or four fights, and after that – once you fight a better caliber of guys it doesn’t happen like that. And on paper, it’s hard to think O’Malley is going to win, but he could and that will only benefit me. But I’m not really rooting for nobody so we’ll see what happens. I’m ready to fight, and I know that.”
Topics:
Marlon Vera Sean O'Malley UFC
