Two fighters have had contrasting journeys before their main event headliner in one of UFC’s coveted PPVs of 2024. One looks forward to making his first title defense in style against a familiar adversary. The other aims to cause a massive upset and derail the hype train of one of the sport’s biggest superstars.
Will Sean O’Malley erase the only defeat of his career with a victory at UFC 299, or will it be Marlon Vera’s time to taste UFC gold after 10 years with the promotion? The Kaseya Center in Miami awaits the fate of these fighters with contrasting journeys.
Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera’s weird interaction at UFC hotel lobby
Sean O’Malley will be looking to make the first defense of the bantamweight title he won from Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 299. Preluding their title clash, the duo have already been engaged in promotional duties and have even faced off weeks before.
Recently, the duo got a chance to see each other at the UFC hotel lobby where they had a weird interaction. On seeing Vera, O’Malley said, “You ready to get knocked out?”, to which Vera replied, “come suck my d***”. O’Malley found Vera’s reply to be weird but Vera seemed happy to say it as evidenced by him boasting it to another person.
Sean O’Malley is an almost three-to-one favorite for the fight and is on a 6 fight unbeaten streak with his latest two victories against Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling who are former champions in the division.
On the other hand, the betting underdog Marlon Vera is not on a streak but has won 5 of his last six with two of them being against former UFC champions, Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz.
Sean O’Malley reflects on Marlon Vera loss
UFC 299 will not be the first time that Sean O’Malley was locked inside the octagon with Marlon Vera. Their first encounter at the UFC 252 PPV ended in a first-round TKO victory in favor of Vera after peroneal nerve damage compromised O’Malley.
O’Malley spoke about the loss on media day of UFC 292. “That fight never necessarily bothered me, you know. Look where I’m at now”, said O’Malley as he remarked that if he had won that fight, there would’ve been a possibility for him to lose the next fight. Moreover, the loss has enabled him to take his career slow and ultimately become a champion before Vera.
“I am excited to go out there and do what I was about to do in that first fight”, O’Malley further added as he predicted a knockout victory over Vera which is something he had stated would’ve happened if he had never suffered the peroneal damage. Aljamain Sterling, the former champion, had already predicted a boring fight between O’Malley and Vera.
O’Malley already has plans even if Vera does not make it to the octagon at UFC 299 as he stated that he has no qualms about fighting number one contender Merab Dvalishvili on short notice if the opportunity arises.
Do you think Sean O’Malley will defend his title at UFC 299, or will Marlon Vera play a spoiler to the party? Leave your prediction below!
