Sean O'Malley believes a rematch with Marlon 'Chito' Vera is inevitable
Sean O'Malley faced Marlon 'Chito' Vera in the co-main event of UFC 252 in August 2020. 'Sugar' was handed the lone professional loss of his career via first-round TKO after appearing to suffer a case of drop foot.
O'Malley has now claimed that a rematch against Marlon Vera is inevitable. With only a few fights left on his UFC contract, the 27-year-old has the rematch in his sights for his new deal.
The No.12-ranked bantamweight is still sore about the way Vera won against him. O'Malley believes a fight of such caliber should not have ended the way it did. 'Sugar' recently told Michael Bisping:
"Oh, 100 percent. That rematch is gonna happen one hundred percent. I know 'Chito' [Marlon Vera] thinks he won... I mean he won the fight fair and square but I also know at that level, that's just not how you wanna end the fight. If I kick someone, if that happened to me I wouldn't be... I like knocking people out. I go for the finish, I go for the sweet finish. I let Thomas Almeida back up cause I wanted a sweeter finish. That's the kind of finishes I want. And if that's [UFC 252] the kind of finishes he wants, I mean that speaks his whatever. if he thinks like, 'Yeah that's a win,' he can have that, whatever."
Watch Sean O'Malley's interview with Michael Bisping below:
Sean O'Malley claims to have no problem accepting defeat
Sean O'Malley put up a good striking display before Marlon Vera seemingly landed a kick to his peroneal nerve. O'Malley's leg gave away and it was clear he had limited control over his foot. Vera wasted no time in unleashing vicious ground and pound after his opponent was sent to the mat.
More than a year past the incident, Sean O'Malley maintains that he is undefeated. However, 'Sugar' emphasizes that he is not a sore loser but only has a problem with the way he lost. O'Malley told reporters at UFC 260 media day:
"Eventually, I’m going to lose – I’m not worried about not losing. I do jiu-jitsu with some really good people, I train with really good people. I lose in the gym. Losing’s not that big of a deal really. One of these days, I’m going to lose a fight, and hopefully it’s not going to be due to an injury. It’s going to be however it ends and it’s going to be fine. The way I lost that last fight, it wasn’t because he was a better fighter, [or] he was more skilled."
Catch Sean O'Malley's appearance at UFC 260 media day below: