Sean O’Malley has some insight when it comes to a new high-stakes bantamweight fight.
And no, it’s not Henry Cejudo vs. Aljamain Sterling. Instead, the colored-hair phenom breaks down Chito Vera vs. Cory Sandhagen, which was just announced to headline UFC Vegas 69 on Feb. 18.
O’Malley Breaks Down Vera vs. Sandhagen
With this fan-favorite fight being booked at the UFC Apex, instead of another arena, O’Malley believes this will have an effect on how the ‘massive’ bout plays out.
“The APEX doesn’t have a big cage and it makes zero sense,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “The big cage is what, 40 percent bigger than the small cage? Like, quite a bit, significantly bigger. That plays a role…”
“I think it gives Chito a pretty big advantage. I don’t know if advantage is the right word, but a disadvantage rather for Cory.”
‘I Want Chito To Win’
Whether the smaller cage gives either men an advantage or disadvantage, O’Malley just hopes that Vera gets past Sandhagen so that the two can finally rematch.
“I want Chito to win, obviously, because then if that is the case (Sterling going to featherweight), me vs. Chito for the belt is massive or I go out there and beat whoever that is and then first title defense is against Chito.”
Chito Vera gave Sean O’Malley the first and only loss of his career at UFC 252, where the Ecuador fighter scored a first-round TKO victory of the rising star. Since then, both fighters have climbed up the rankings and are on the horizon of a title shot.
