- Sean O’Malley explained why he is motivated to beat Chito Vera at UFC 299
- “Sugar” talked about potential title fight with Ilia Topuria
Sean O’Malley couldn’t wait to smash Chito Vera in their upcoming rematch at UFC 299. After Vera, “Sugar” would aim for a title match with featherweight title challenger Ilia Topuria.
Sean just wants to punch Chito’s face
Speaking to Shak MMA, O’Malley said that his motivation heading into his rematch with Vera was to not lose. But above all, the reigning bantamweight champ is yearning to punch Vera’s face.
“I don’t want to lose any fight ever,” O’Malley said. “So, the motivation is not getting my ass whooped. That’s always the motivation. This one is just a little bit sweeter because it’s the rematch. It is Chito. There’s just some people that have such ugly and punchable faces that it makes it a little more enjoyable punching those people. Chito just happens to be one of those guys.”
A featherweight title fight is next
O’Malley also reiterated his plan to move up to featherweight after beating Vera. However, “Sugar” would only push for it if Topuria ends up dethroning Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. If Volk wins, O’Malley said he would probably think about it.
“If Ilia wins, I’m going to win, then that’s the fight that happens next. Then I can see myself going back down to 35, defending that one. If Ilia ends up losing, there’s Merab, there’s Henry, there’s Cory… there’s Umar. I have so many options. It’s a great position to be in,” O’Malley explained.
“I don’t know. I guess that is a possibility,” he said of a featherweight title match with Volkanovski. “I just kind of always said you know I didn’t want that fight but you never know.”
O’Malley will try and defend his bantamweight title for the first time at UFC 299 after claiming it with a TKO win over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. On the other hand, Vera hopes to finally capture the 135-pound strap and beat “Sugar” once again, having TKO’d O’Malley in the first match in 2020.
Check out O’Malley’s full interview below:
