Urijah Faber recently provided his opinion on the rematch between Sean O’Malley and Chito Vera, as well as his thoughts on the initial fight between the two bantamweights competing against each other.
‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley competed against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in a bantamweight bout at UFC 252 in August of 2020. Vera emerged victorious through technical knockout in the first round, so delivering O’Malley his first and, to this point, only defeat in his professional mixed martial arts career.
Vera’s victory, on the other hand, was a fluke, according to O’Malley and a large number of other people. It was brought to their attention that ‘Sugar’ had sustained an unusual injury, as Vera had kicked him in the calf, which caused his peroneal nerve to be injured and significantly hindered his movement. After falling to the ground and being unable to walk or even stand, the dazzling striker was quickly halted by ‘Chito’ through the use of ground strikes.
Enlarge the Tweet
Both of these fighters have steadily climbed the bantamweight ranks throughout the course of the subsequent years. Sean O’Malley won the UFC bantamweight title in his most recent fight, which took place at UFC 292 in August 2023. He did so by defeating Aljamain Sterling via technical knockout in the second round. He will now attempt to defend the title against Marlon Vera at UFC 299 in the following year.
During a recent interview with The Schmo, Urijah Faber was questioned about his thoughts on the possibility of Sean O’Malley defending the bantamweight title against Song Yadong, who is a protégé of Faber’s on Team Alpha Male. In order for that to take place, ‘Sugar’ would first have to obtain Vera’s approval.
Taking this into consideration, Urijah Faber made the assertion that O’Malley will most likely prevail over ‘Chito’ in their rematch and that the latter had a fortunate outcome in their initial bout. ‘The California Kid’ made the following prediction on the outcome of the UFC 299 matchup:
“‘Chito’ is really difficult, certainly possesses finishing strength, and has been able to score late in fights, while coming from behind quite frequently. He has been able to achieve this. On the other hand, I believe that O’Malley’s most recent bout involved a little bit of flukishness. It is very clear that ‘Chito’ is skilled and ready. However, there were certain peculiar occurrences that occurred with the ankle (O’Malley’s ankle).
He went on to say:
I have a feeling that this time around, the conflict is going to be different. My opinion is that O’Malley is successful. O’Malley is a place where people sleep, and they always have. People have a strong dislike for the guys who are the center of attention. This individual is the epitome of credibility.
Sean O’Malley on his 2020 defeat to Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera
Over the course of the previous few years, the rivalry between Sean O’Malley and Chito Vera has gradually become more intense. Vera insists that he was the one who emerged victorious in their initial confrontation. Whatever the case may be, O’Malley has repeatedly highlighted that the Ecuadorian boxer was merely fortunate.
It was during his interview on Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant podcast earlier this year that the current bantamweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) reiterated the same point.
Enlarge the Tweet
After their fight at UFC 252, O’Malley stated that Vera has not been able to render any of his UFC opponents incapable of fighting by delivering a calf kick to the peroneal nerve; this is according to O’Malley. Furthermore, ‘Sugar’ gave the impression that Vera would be unable to achieve the same result as they did in their first bout when they fought again.
