Sean
O’Malley knows that Marlon Vera
isn’t your typical No. 1 contender. And he believes his opponent
knows it, too.
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However, Vera’s history with the reigning bantamweight champion —
namely a first-round TKO over O’Malley in August 2020 — makes for
an intriguing storyline. And it doesn’t hurt that O’Malley himself
wants to avenge his lone career defeat. He’ll get a chance to do so
when he faces Vera in the UFC
299 main event on Saturday at the Kaseya Center in Miami.
“Zero percent chance [he gets a shot if I’m not champion],”
O’Malley said in a recent interview with ESPN. “There’s guys [that]
deserve [it]: Cory [Sandhagen], Merab [Dvalishvili] — you could
argue those guys deserve a title fight over ‘Chito.’ I went out
there and knocked out the greatest bantamweight of all time. I said
‘Hey, I want one thing. Let me have the ‘Chito’ rematch.’ I’ve
never asked for it. I’ve never really asked for anything. Let me
have this ‘Chito’ fight. …
“I never went to bed at night thinking I have to fight ‘Chito’
again. If he can get close enough to where I can offer him a title
fight…I’ll give you the rematch. Everything is working out
perfect.”
Vera is coming off a 1-1 campaign in 2023 that saw him drop a split
decision to Cory
Sandhagen and take a three-round verdict against Pedro
Munhoz. The 31-year-old Ecuador native has won five of his last
six Octagon appearances overall, with noteworthy victories over the
likes of Dominick
Cruz, Rob Font and
Frankie
Edgar during that time. According to O’Malley, Vera won’t care
that he might’ve bypassed more deserving contenders to get this
opportunity.
“I think Chito’s a cold-blooded killer. I don’t think it’s gonna
faze him that he’s being gifted this title shot,” O’Malley said.
“Do I think he knows that? Yeah. He didn’t even finish Pedro. I
beat Pedro in two rounds … He knows he’s getting this title fight
because I’m the champ. But as far as that affecting him, the dude’s
a killer. I don’t think that will mentally [cause] any problems for
him.”
If he takes care of business against Vera, O’Malley still has
designs on facing newly-crowned featherweight champ Ilia
Topuria. He claims this isn’t because he wants to avoid
bantamweight contenders like Merab
Dvalishvili, Cory
Sandhagen or Umar Nurmagomeodov, however. It’s more about
seeking out the biggest matchup possible.
“Me vs. Ilia in September in Vegas at the Sphere, Mexican
Independence day…let’s make it happen. I think that will be the
next fight if all goes to plan,” O’Malley said.
“At the end of the day, what’s the biggest fight? I’m a prize
fighter. I like making money. Why would I go fight —oh this guy’s a
f—-ing killer — but you’re gonna make less money. Or I go fight
this guy who’s a killer too, but I make way more money. I’m in the
business of making money. I do want to fight the next guys [at
bantamweight], but if I have an option…I beleive me vs. Ilia would
be the next biggest fight.”