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Sean O'Malley and Petr Yan are set to meet inside the octagon at UFC 280. Yan is the No.1 contender in the bantamweight division while O'Malley is ranked No.13. The fight has raised many eyebrows amongst UFC fans who believe it is a premature step up for O'Malley.
However, the disparity in the rankings might work in O'Malley's in terms of narrative. No.5-ranked bantamweight contender Marlon Vera explained how 'Sugar' has very little to lose in the fight by going up against the former champion.
Vera spoke to CBS Sports' Shakiel Mahjouri and said:
"It's a perfect fight. He [O'Malley] already have insurance plan. He's already telling, 'If I lose, I'm losing to the number one guy [Yan].' So you already go with an insurance plan. And then it's fighting, dude, you can line up [a] big punch, things can change. Who [the] f*** knows?"
'Chito' elaborated on O'Malley's circumstances and labeled the lack of pressure owing to his lowly ranking as an insurance cushion for him. That may not be the case as 'Sugar' commands a massive fanbase in the UFC, who expect bigger things from the bantamweight.
Vera linked the appeal that Sean O'Malley has in the UFC to him landing the big fight:
"He got a fanbase and really there was no other fight to make. I see why they make it."
Marlon Vera feels the UFC ran out of options for Sean O'Malley
Marlon Vera has previously fought and knocked out Sean O'Malley. Vera revealed how he almost got matched up with Yan too, if not for Yan declining the UFC's offer:
"Yan declined to fight me on August 13th. Because he was needing more time to get ready. I'm not the type of guy that I don't wait for a f***ing man. He literally called me out that Wednesday morning. That day, UFC called me and him, August 13, do you guys want to fight in Boston? He declined the fight. I said, 'F*** you, you lose the opportuinity.'"
Vera is set to headline UFC Fight Night: Vera vs Cruz against Dominick Cruz. Merab Dvalishvili is matched up against Jose Aldo for UFC 278. This led to the UFC running out of options for an opponent for O'Malley, according to Vera.
Eventually, 'Sugar' was fast-tracked to a fight with the No.1 contender despite his last fight being a no contest. 'Chito' touched upon the same and revealed that he had Munhoz ahead in the fight before it was ruled a no-contest:
"That fight that O'Malley and Munhoz did, it was really- it was garbage! In the first round, they throw a couple low kicks, they don't really engage. In the second round, it was the same thing. I think Munhoz was up, because Munhoz at least was doing a little more."
Watch Marlon Vera's full interview on YouTube here:
