Sean O'Malley starts the year with warning to Marlon Vera
Sean O'Malley is firing off the trash talk as UFC 299 looms ever closer.
Marlon Vera will be vying for O'Malley's UFC bantamweight belt in the Q1 2024 pay-per-view headliner. Sean O'Malley vs. Chito Vera II transpires on March 9 at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
The first fight between the two went down over three years ago and was a meaningful matchup for both. Vera would stop O'Malley in the first round, but the latter has since contended that the loss was a fluke and does not recognize it as a loss.
The bad blood and banter has been there between these bantamweights ever since their first throwdown, and a rematch invariably seemed like it would happen someday.
Taking to his personal X platform @chitoveraUFC, Vera said:
"Last 13 miles of the year done. Thankful for the health I have, the rest I go and get it."
Responding to the initial tweet on the first day of the new year via his own X account @SugaSeanMMA, O'Malley stated:
"You ain’t gettin sh*t but an a** whooping."
Check out O'Malley's latest bit of banter towards Vera below:
Sean O'Malley's journey since the first Marlon Vera contest
Since the lone loss of his mixed martial arts career to Marlon Vera, Sean O'Malley has been surging to where he is now at the top.
The 29-year-old rebounded from his UFC 252 loss to Chito in August 2020 to carve out what is currently a six-fight streak without taking a loss.
The Montana native finished Thomas Almeida, Kris Moutinho, and Raulian Paiva with strikes inside the distance. O'Malley then had a no-contest against Pedro Munhoz after an errant eye poke happened during their UFC 276 bout.
'Sugar' then bested former 135-pound titleholder Petr Yan via a split decision at UFC 280.
O'Malley then stopped Aljamain Sterling in the second stanza via strikes to claim the bantamweight belt at UFC 292 in August. He looks to not only make the all-important first defense of his title reign but also to avenge his single loss in the sport and tie up his series with Vera.