Marlon 'Chito' Vera draws comparison between Sean O'Malley's loss to Merab Dvalishvili and Conor McGregor: "Messed his rhythm"
Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Marlon 'Chito' Vera recently provided his analysis on the main event of Noche UFC 306 last Saturday. The Ecuadorian fighter provided some valuable insight on how Merab Dvalishvili did what he couldn't pull off: defeat Sean O'Malley for the belt.
'Chito' said:
"That was a great fight. I really thought if Sean could have hit Merab early in the fight, things could change based on...he's [Dvalishvili] been dropped by [Henry] Cejudo and Marlon Moraes...But he [O'Malley] just couldn't land. Merab [had] that like, jerky movement. Like, it's hard to hit him."
The former title challenger then compared the fight to another high-profile title bout in the past:
"Comparing the fight to Chad Mendes and Conor [McGregor], every time Conor got up, he would [grab] Chad right away, he will be on his face right away. Every time Sean got up, there was a little separation. So that probably messed his rhythm and we all know that [Merab] can just take you done over and over. So I got like that, in my opinion, you just gotta sit down and fight him [because] he's gonna take you down regardless. Might as well go crazy on him."
Here's a clip of his analysis posted by Full Violence on X:
Marlon Vera provides analysis on Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko III at Noche UFC 306
In the same Noche UFC 306 post-event recap, Marlon Vera also provided some analysis on the night's co-main event, in which Valentina Shevchenko reclaimed her UFC flyweight title against her rival Alexa Grasso in a trilogy bout.
Marlon 'Chito' Vera said:
"The co-main, that was amazing. Valentina got her title back. At this point, [the win] could solidify her as one of the best ever, you know...She did pretty well, I mean, the wrestling control was on point. I know fans get a little picky with the fights and they're trying to like, talk sh*t if it's not a bloody mess, but winning is winning. And at some point they have to understand there's a reason why we can grapple and everything and when the fights 'bore', you can ask the referee to stand up...[but] if you can't get up, I mean, it is what it is."
Watch his full analysis here (2:18)