Recently, Marlon Vera and Sean O’Malley exchanged barbs on social media. After Vera uploaded a meme of “The Savage,” who recently won by submission once more, the two bantamweights also included UFC strawweight Gillian Robertson in their dispute.The recent Twitter argument began when ‘Chito’ quoted a meme of Robertson glowing and added the remark, “Breaking: Sean O’Malley has officially transitioned to a woman.” According to the EcuadorianVera appeared to be attempting to imply that Sean O’Malley is a transgender wrestler, but “Sugar” appeared perplexed by “Chito’s” word choice. The No. 2 rated bantamweight sent his former rival an email asking him to elaborate on his joke.
“Have you given it any thought in terms of your interest in transitioning? Or did you believe it was you?
Clearly, Marlon Vera and Sean O’Malley are still in love. The two bantamweights famously squared off in the octagon in 2020, with Vera emerging victorious via controversial TKO after O’Malley was hurt in the opening frame. On ‘Sugar’s record, this is still the only defeat.
Vera’s four-fight winning streak came to a stop in a split-decision loss against Cory Sandhagen at UFC San Antonio. O’Malley, who has gone undefeated in his previous five fights, is expected to face the winner of Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo’s championship fight at 135 pounds next month.
UFC veteran Josh Thompson on a potential Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera rematch
Given their long-standing animosity for one another, a rematch between Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera seems imminent. Josh Thompson, a former UFC lightweight, would not, however, want to see “Sugar” and “Chito” resuming their duel just yet.
The Weighing In podcast’s host, Thompson, stated his reluctance in seeing them square off once more and demanded that the UFC match the Ecuadorian up with former champion Petr Yan instead:
“That’s a fantastic fight between ‘Chito’ and Petr Yan. The fight to pick is certainly that one. Following their losses, the two of them… Petr won’t really wrestle, so I believe that’s the ideal matchup. He is very aggressive, focused on boxing, and willing to trade blows.The last time Petr Yan raised his hand was in a match against Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 in 2021. He is now on a three-fight losing streak. Despite his setbacks, Yan is still one of the division’s top contenders, and since Marlon Vera is also coming off a loss, this battle makes sense.
Even after Yan’s most recent loss, Vera called him out.
