Sean O’Malley is surprised that he is meeting Marlon Vera again, especially in a title match. For the champ, he is unsure of whether the opponent is deserving of the title shot, but he knows that it is going to be a big fight. In line with this, “Sugar” promised to make his revenge against “Chito” a monumental one.
Vera and O’Malley first met in August 2020 at UFC 252, where Vera won via TKO over the present champ. This gave the American fighter his first loss, which remains the only one he has in his current record. O’Malley, nonetheless, still hasn’t conceded his defeat and believes that Vera just got lucky during that time. Now, with a rematch between them approaching, the bantamweight champ is determined to prove he’s actually an undefeated champ by taking down the opponent.
This is the match the 29-year-old has been waiting for, but he admitted that he’s surprised that Vera made it to the title shot, suggesting he’s not sure it is something the fellow fighter deserves. Yet, O’Malley knows it is a fight that excites him.
“I’m honestly surprised that it’s happening in a sense,” O’Malley told Helen Yee in an interview. “I didn’t think that he would get to the title shot, and did he really deserve it after his performance over Pedro? I don’t know, but I thought, you know what? It’s time that I take him out. So, here we are, and it’s very exciting.”
In his earlier interview, the champion promised to deliver a finish over the opponent. O’Malley didn’t reiterate this but said that his performance would be phenomenal on the night of UFC 299.
“I think it’s the biggest fight in the division,” O’Malley said. “I think it’s an important fight from what happened the first time. I claimed that I’m undefeated and he claims that he beat me, so now March 9, we get to settle it to see who was right.
“There’s a possibility it does [end up in judges’ decision]. He’s never been submitted, never been knocked out. He’s very, very durable. I just truly, truly believe that I’m on another level and going to bring a level of performance that the UFC has never even seen. I think I’m gonna hit a level that people will be shocked at, and I’m gonna put on a masterful, beautiful performance.”
