UFC Champion Sean O’Malley Makes Brash Claim About His Only Career Loss

"I've actually been playing chess for a long time."

Author:
Drew Beaupré
Publish date:
Sep 6, 2023 5:17 PM EDT

Sean O’Malley says that defending his bantamweight title in a rematch with Marlon “Chito” Vera is all part of a plan that began with their first meeting at UFC 252.

“Sugar” upset Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 with a second-round TKO to claim the bantamweight belt, and in the weeks following that victory the outspoken champion has fielded all kinds of offers from top contenders looking to take his newly-acquired title.

The 28-year-old suggested after UFC 292 that he might pass over Vera as an option if he continued demanding a title shot, but when asked by Ariel Helwani this week O’Malley indicated that the Ecuadorian is his preferred next opponent.

“If I got to pick, if I was running the show, I would say yes,” O’Malley said on The MMA Hour. “Simply because ‘Chito’ is the biggest fight next…If I fight ‘Chito’ next it’s because that’s what I want and that’s the biggest fight. I’m in the fight business, and I want big fights.”

Marlon Vera and Sean O'Malley. — (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Vera handed O’Malley the only loss of his career when the pair met in 2020, but “Sugar” went on to claim that the apparent setback was actually all part of his master plan to set up a rematch with the UFC bantamweight title on the line.

“I never lost sleep over this fight,” O’Malley explained. “I’ve actually been playing chess for a long time. I lost that fight on purpose just so that I could go out there and knock out Aljo and have that be my biggest fight, [the] rematch.”

“Chito” was originally scheduled to meet Henry Cejudo at UFC 292 before the former two-division champion withdrew with a shoulder injury, and after defeating Pedro Munhoz on the event's main card Vera has made it clear that he intends to be the first challenger for O'Malley's belt.

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