Marlon Vera är hoppfull om en trilogimatch mot Sean O’Malley efter sin förlust mot mästaren vid UFC 299. En del av deras andra match gav honom dock en bitter eftersmak.
Marlon Vera hävdar att Sean O’Malley var hal under titelmatchen
Ett par dagar efter att han fightats om bantamviktstiteln tidigare denna månad skickade Marlon Vera ut ett Tweet där han anklagade mästaren Sean O’Malley för att varit fullkomligt inoljad under matchen:
Who braid your hair @SugaSeanMMA you where grease to the bone I wonder how much gel they use ?
— C H🖕🏽T O🇪🇨V E R A (@chitoveraUFC) March 13, 2024
Vera blev efteråt tillfrågad om anklagelsen i en intervju med The MMA Hour. Han sade då att han tror att det O’Malley hade i sitt hår kan ha hjälpt mästaren i grapplingen:
I’ve braided my hair in the past, and if you braid it in a normal salon, they put an extremely big amount of pomade gel, whatever they use, to make it nice and tight.
When the UFC lady did my hair before the Frankie Edgar [fight at UFC 268], which is the main person that does everybody, she didn’t use nothing. She just went [with] a little bit of water. And when I finished the fight with Frankie, I was dry.
Every time I was grabbing Sean, he was like grabbing a fish out of the water. It was just like, voom. And maybe he didn’t attempt to [cheat], but he was extremely greasy on his hair. And that’s why when I hurt him at the end of the round, I grabbed his head, the knee [slipped], all my knees [that slipped by] were really close. Maybe if it would’ve been dry, I could’ve hurt him. Maybe not. I’m still where I am for a reason — I lost the fight, and I’m not going to find [an] excuse, but matter of fact, his head was extremely greasy.
Even if you see the post-fight interviews … his face was shiny, and after a fight, the Vasoline is over. It’s really over. I’ve been in, what, 23 fights inside the UFC? Once you get out of the cage, after you sweat it out, there’s no Vasoline. He was really shiny, and that can be something.
Vill gå en tredje match mot O’Malley
Efter att förlorat mot Jose Aldo i december 2020 vann Vera fyra raka raka matcher och han har just nu 5-2 i sina senaste sju fighter. Han är en favorit bland fansen och han är hoppfull om att uppmärksamheten som han ackumulerat under de senaste åren samt ett par ytterligare segrar kan ge honom en tredje match mot O’Malley.
Just nu är Vera exalterad över att återvända till oktagonen men han siktar på en återkomst till organisationens årliga gala i Madison Square Garden i New York:
Now we’re 1-1. I stopped him in [the first fight], he won a decision. I mean, he landed that big knee, that I believe that it was more the sound than actually the damage. The fifth-round punch was the one that really hurt me, because it [affected] my vision, but it’s pretty much those two against my body shot, and I said f*** it. If we’re fighting [until] death, the O’Malley family [would be] having a funeral right now.
But it’s professional. Good for him. … I will eventually get revenge, and now let’s see what’s available now. I’m aiming, I would love to fight in New York. I love New York, I think that’s my city, I feel I’m native from Queens, so hopefully I get to get on that card. I’m sure I’m in a good spot. I can pretty much tell Hunter [Campbell] whatever I want, and I feel after a fight like that, they give you [what you want] because, you know, I’m not too needy.
Vad anser ni om Veras anklagelse mot O’Malley?
