Sean O’Malley, the UFC’s potential subsequent megastar returns this weekend to make not solely the primary defence of his bantamweight championship but additionally makes an attempt to avenge his solely skilled loss. This battle is arguably solely taking place as a result of that prior loss as there are extra deserving contenders than Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera, nonetheless, their historical past is what makes this one so fascinating.
The 2 met within the UFC 252 co-main occasion and regardless of being on prime within the battle, O’Malley was handed an L on his file. Suga doesn’t settle for the loss, nonetheless. We’ve heard him describe himself as ‘mentally undefeated’, preserve the 0 in his social media bios and declare that he by no means misplaced the battle. It’s a gimmick, however the truth stays, Vera is 1-0 within the rivalry.
At UFC 299 on prime of a stacked card, O’Malley has the chance to make the rating 1-1, make the primary defence of his title and cement himself as a real bantamweight star. And as you’ll be able to think about, he absolutely believes in his skill.
I’ll cease Chito within the third or 4th
— Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) December 22, 2023
Sean O’Malley – Keys to Victory
Sean O’Malley’s keys to victory needs to be pretty simple. He wants to remain within the boxing vary, relatively than the kicking vary. Final day out, Vera got here out very kick-heavy and punished the physique and vitally, the legs of O’Malley. To take that kicking sport away from the Ecuadorian, O’Malley wants to shut the gap and keep in his boxing vary. Curiously, O’Malley has the longer attain in addition to being the taller man. This implies he can keep in his boxing vary and, in principle, not get landed on an excessive amount of by the hands of Chito.
Additional, he must utilise the footwork that has made him such a harmful stand-up fighter. He makes use of lateral motion extraordinarily nicely, particularly towards Aljamain Sterling final day out. He was in a position to transfer laterally with a purpose to keep away from the grappling sport of the previous champion. We are able to’t anticipate Vera to look to grapple, nonetheless, he works greatest when he will get into vary and may drive out combos. The champion’s size is one thing that makes this lateral motion so efficient as a result of not solely is he a transferring goal but additionally he’s an extended, rangy man to land on. He ought to concentrate on the leg-kicking skill of the challenger, which might simply restrict that lateral motion, nonetheless, he’s handled the leg kicks of opponents far more successfully in current fights.
His largest key to victory, nonetheless, can be to combine the martial arts, regardless of being a striker at coronary heart. He’s obtained respectable one-punch knockout energy, nonetheless, it’s unlikely that that is going to come back to his help on this one. Vera has by no means been stopped in 32 fights and has develop into well-renowned for his chin. He has, nonetheless, been outpointed eight occasions. His most up-to-date two losses have come by the hands of Jose Aldo and Cory Sandhagen.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – AUGUST 19: (R-L) Sean O’Malley knocks out Aljamain Sterling within the UFC bantamweight championship battle throughout the UFC 292 occasion at TD Backyard on August 19, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Picture by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC by way of Getty Photos)
On each of those events, he was managed on the bottom and seemingly confirmed an enormous gap in his sport. Though Aldo wasn’t recorded to have taken Vera down, when the battle met the mat, the previous featherweight king dominated. the ultimate spherical noticed Aldo clock up 4:53 management time, which finally received him the battle. Towards Sandhagen, it was the same story, nonetheless, it was front-loaded this time. Sandhagen took Vera down twice within the first two rounds and on every event managed Vera on the bottom for greater than half the spherical. This planted the seed in Vera’s thoughts and arguably triggered him to be hesitant to open up an excessive amount of in worry of being taken down.
O’Malley isn’t a wrestler. He averages simply 0.43 takedowns per quarter-hour at an accuracy of 42%. He’s greater than proficient on the bottom, nonetheless. He’s competed on a number of grappling exhibits together with Quintet and Grappling Industries. He’s but to file a submission within the UFC and solely has a single submission on his file, again in 2015.
If O’Malley can utilise these points, he needs to be profitable in making his first title defence, nonetheless, it received’t be simple. Throughout five-rounds, we nonetheless don’t know if he has cardio points however what we do know is that Chito Vera received’t decelerate for the complete 25 minutes and can stroll forwards the whole time.
UFC 299 takes place this Saturday from Miami, Florida.
