Marlon
Vera has alleged that Sean
O’Malley’s head was “extremely greasy,” making it tough for him
to get a hold of “Sugar” during their bantamweight title fight
earlier this month.
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O’Malley thoroughly outclassed “Chito” in the main event at
UFC 299 on March 9 to successfully defend his title via
unanimous decision.
“Chito” claims there were other factors at play behind him not
being able to turn the bout into a dogfight. According to the
Ecuadorian, O’Malley’s braided hair was too greasy for him to get a
hold of in the clinch. Having sported braided hair in the past,
Vera noted that the UFC person in charge uses just water as opposed
to normal salons that use a large amount of gel.
While the former title challenger gave credit to “Suga” for his
performance, he didn’t shy away from mentioning his observation
regarding O’Malley’s hair. Vera also acknowledged that it might
have been unintentional on the part of the reigning bantamweight
champion or whoever braided his hair.
“He was just a better athlete than me,” Vera said in an appearance
on “The MMA Hour”. “And I knew that, but I still think I
can touch him and I did touch him a few times because there’s a
reason he had two casts after the fight. Normally I get to people
and I clinch them and wear them down from there. That’s the only
thing I complained about and I’m not afraid to speak – when I braid
my hair in the past — and if you braid it in a normal salon — they
put an extremely big amount of pomade gel, whatever they use, to
make it nice and tight. When the UFC lady did my hair before the
Frankie
Edgar [fight], which is the main person that does everybody,
she didn’t use nothing. She just went a little bit of water, and
when I finished the fight with Frankie, I was dry.
“Every time I was grabbing Sean it was like grabbing a fish out of
the water. Maybe he didn’t attempt to do it, but he was extremely
greasy on his hair. That’s why when I hurt him at the end of the
round, I grab his head, that knee just [slipped]. All my knees just
[slipped] by really close. Maybe if he would have been dry I could
have hurt him, maybe not. I’m still where I am for a reason. I lost
the fight, and I’m not gonna find excuses but matter of fact, his
head was extremely greasy. Even if you see the post-fight
interviews, you can go to MMAFighting or MMAjunkie, his face was
shining.”