"He's probably still concussed" - Sean O'Malley's coach discusses Marlon Vera accusing 'Sugar' of cheating in their fight
Sean O'Malley proved himself as a superior striker to Marlon Vera when the pair met in the main event of UFC 299 on Mar. 9.
Having defeated 'Sugar' in their first encounter at UFC 252, Vera was confident that their rematch would end all doubt about him being the better fighter. But O'Malley dismantled his opponent on the feet for all five rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Following the bout, 'Chito' maintained that he would bounce back from his title defeat and credited the American's performance. However, several days later, Vera took aim at the champion by accusing him of greasing in their fight.
Given the lack of grappling that took place during their fight, the accusation has come as a surprise. O'Malley's longtime coach, Tim Welch, was recently interviewed by James Lynch, who asked the MMA coach to share his thoughts on Vera's comments. Welch said this:
"He's probably still concussed. His probably got a concussion, and when you have concussions - I've had concussions in my life - and you start thinking crazy. You start saying crazy things, so yeah he's probably dealing with some pretty bad [effects]. His brain's probably swelled up so it's not really thinking correctly. It would be different if he was trying to take him down a bunch... That was kind of out of pocket."
Watch Sean O'Malley's coach discuss Marlon Vera's comments below from 3:50:
Sean O'Malley trolls Marlon Vera for greasing accusations
While greasing is a known tactic used by fighters to make it more difficult for opponents to grab a hold of them, there are seldom accusations that UFC athletes are utilizing such an underhanded practice.
But according to Marlon Vera, Sean O'Malley was greased up during their much-anticipated rematch at UFC 299.
All UFC fighters are checked by staff for anything illegal prior to stepping into the octagon. But the pair recently went back and forth online about the accusations, with 'Sugar' taking aim at the massive damage absorbed by 'Chito' during their fight.
The bantamweight champion continued trolling the Ecuadorian after their exchange ended, as he took to X and reposted an image of Vera holding the UFC title with the following caption:
"Chito Vera if O'Malley didn't use hair gel:"
See Sean O'Malley's repost below: