UFC bantamweight titleholder ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley had his first face-off as a world champion.
Appearing at the UFC 295 media event on Wednesday, O’Malley stepped on the stage for a face-to-face with his next opponent, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera, who holds the distinction of being the only fighter to defeat ‘Sugar’ inside the Octagon thus far.
O’Malley x Vera first faceoff pic.twitter.com/bL2eLSatp1
— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) November 8, 2023
Immediately following his spectacular second-round knockout of Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 to claim the 135-pound crown, O’Malley called for a rematch with Vera. The pair first met one another in August 2020 at UFC 252 where O’Malley suffered a first-round TKO after sustaining a leg injury in the opening minutes.
‘Sugar’ tried his best to stay on his feet, but it was just a matter of time before his leg gave out, allowing ‘Chito’ to capitalize on the moment with a series of ground-and-pound strikes that resulted in the referee stepping in to stop the contest.
Since then, O’Malley has been chomping at the bit to run it back.
Fight Fans Aren’t Necessarily Thrilled by Sean O’Malley vs. ‘Chito’ Vera 2 Announcement
He’ll finally get that chance when he defends his bantamweight title for the very first time in the UFC 299 co-main event. The pay-per-view is earmarked for March 9, but no other details regarding the city or venue have been announced. O’Malley vs. Vera 2 is the only bout listed for the card as of now.
Though the fight makes sense from a marketing standpoint, many fight fans were quick to call out the matchmaking on social media considering Marlon Vera has barely bounced back from a split-decision loss to Cory Sandhagen in March. Since then, he has earned a unanimous decision win over Pedro Munhoz in a largely unforgettable August meeting.
That hardly seems worthy of a world title opportunity, but O’Malley’s pull as the current bantamweight titleholder likely played a part in the contest coming to fruition.
Watch the full video below:
