Sean O’Malley confirms interest in fighting Marlon Vera again: “He’s earned the rematch”

UFC bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley would like to run it back with Marlon Vera.

‘Suga’ and ‘Chito’ clashed back at UFC 252 in August 2020. O’Malley entered the bout as a somewhat unproven prospect, and Vera was supposed to be the biggest test of his career. It would be a test that he didn’t pass, mostly due to an injury.

Late in the first round, Vera landed a leg kick that injured O’Malley. As a result of the injury, Sean went down and was hit with a few more shots before the bout ended. The fight was ruled a TKO, with Vera handing O’Malley the first loss of his young career.

Since that bout, both men have shown they’re two of the best bantamweights in the world. Now two years removed from the contest, Sean O’Malley has confirmed that he would like to face Marlon Vera again soon. The 27-year-old discussed a possible rematch on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.

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“In the past, I’ve said that he needs to earn a rematch, I think he’s done that. He went out and lost to Jose Aldo. Went out there and lost to Frankie Edgar, he basically lost to Frankie. He lost 13 minutes of a fight, he did finish Frankie. [But] two more minutes and he loses that, but he did knock him out.”

Sean O’Malley continued, “He went out there and he looked good against Rob [Font], he looked impressive and looked like he definitely improved. I don’t know how he didn’t finish him, he dropped him like 13 times. He’s definitely proved that he’s earned the rematch. People hate when I say that, but it’s true.”

What do you think about Sean O’Malley’s comments? Do you want to see him fight Marlon Vera again?