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Sean O'Malley's fight against Petr Yan at UFC 280 potentially sets him up for a title shot. Fellow bantamweight contender Marlon Vera is closely following the fight as he looks to further his claim for a shot at 135lbs gold.
The matchup between O'Malley and Yan is an unprecedented one, with the American ranked No.12 in the division as opposed to Yan's No.1 position. Furthermore, 'Sugar' has only faced two ranked opponents in his UFC career in Vera and Pedro Munhoz.
Vera believes all of these factors stack up against 'Sugar' and the UFC will not pass him over to grant Sean O'Malley a title shot. In an interview with Submission Radio, 'Chito' said:
"Well, there's nothing I can really do, right? I can get mad, I can say 'F**k you,' I can say 'Release me,' but it's just the way of fights. Even if he wins, you know, they want to skip me like you know they can't. They could but I just feel like they will take care of me. I feel that way. I feel like even if he wins and I win my next, even if I don't have another fight. I feel like I'm possible fight for the belt. We'll see 22nd. I'll be ready, it's all right now."
Marlon Vera questions Sean O'Malley's fighting pedigree
Marlon Vera addressed the upcoming fight between Sean O'Malley and Petr Yan and maintained that anything can happen in combat sports. He kept the prospect of a result for either fighter open.
However, he also voiced his doubts concerning Sean O'Malley's past record and the level of his opponents:
"I feel really anybody can shut your lights. Anything can happen. You can broke your feet in the first round, you can get cracked. But you also gotta be realistic. The only two hard fights that the guy has faced in his life, he got knocked the f**k out in one, and in the second one he poked the guy in the eyes."
He continued and spoke about 'Sugar's' uneventful bout against Munhoz:
"And honestly, before the eye poke, it's not like he was doing something crazy. He wasn't even like kicking his a**. They were like literally going a slap for a slap in those low kicks and really no one was making any damage. So it's hard to think that he can do crazy things [against Petr Yan]."
Watch 'Chito' Vera's full interview with Submission Radio:
