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Sean O'Malley suffered a TKO loss in the first round over Marlon Vera in the co-main event of UFC 252. The loss marked O'Malley's first defeat in his MMA career and has put a halt on the hype that Sean O'Malley had become in 2020. Ever since his TKO victory over Jose Alberto Quinonez, Sean O'Malley rose to stardom with brutal KO win over Eddie Wineland.
However, it did not go as planned for O'Malley at UFC 252 as he suffered a brutal TKO loss over rising prospect Chito Vera. Sean O'Malley looked great in the early minutes of the round. He showed great movement and was able to land several kicks and punches. However, O'Malley suffered a brutal leg injury during the fight, which compromised the fighter to a huge extent. O'Malley had trouble moving, and was met with a brutal ground and pound from Marlon Vera before referee Herb Dean called the fight.
It's interesting to note that O'Malley was doing exceptionally well before he suffered the leg injury. There's an argument to be made that the result would have been different if not for the unfortunate injury. However, there's another group of fight fans who believe that Marlon Vera caused the injury with a brutal leg kick that he landed in the second minute of the first round. Regardless, the ending of the fight has brought a lot of criticism. Many fight fans claim that Marlon Vera was getting dominated up until O'Malley suffered the injury, and hence doesn't deserve the victory.
Let's look at what caused the injury? Should Marlon Vera get the credit for the win? Did Marlon Vera had anything to do with the brutal injury Sean O'Malley sustained at UFC 252?
Marlon Vera picked up a well-deserved victory over Sean O'Malley
Former Bellator Champion Ben Askren during a recent interview with ESPN shared his thoughts on the fight.
"The calf kick wasn't really a thing for a really long time. It's a thing now. It turns out that they are very effective. It's becoming that they are more prevalent than regular kicks, which would be above the knee."
Ben Askren also mentioned a similar incident that took place with Henry Cejduo during his second fight against former Flyweight Champion Demetrius Johnson. Askren did not imply the use of the word "accident" while talking about the fight.
"It kills that nerve or something. It makes the guy wobble."
Something similar happened with Henry Cejudo, where in a similar fashion, Cejudo lost control over his leg, and it's hard to ignore the similarity in which both O'Malley and Cejudo lost control over their legs. It would be wrong to take the win away from Marlon Vera. Chito was quick, athletic, and landed a brilliant lethal calf kick on O'Malley which caused the damage. It's also interesting to note that it looked like O'Malley did not do enough to defend himself after falling on the ground. Reports after the fight revealed that there was no fracture in Sean O'Malley's leg. However, it could be a severe case of a tendon tear.
Regardless of the freakish injury, it's hard to ignore that Marlon Vera brought Sean O'Malley in the position, where the brutal calf kick managed to leave a huge impact on his performance. It's quite similar to Chris Weidman beating Anderson Silva in the first fight, where a brutal kick from Weidman snapped Anderson's leg. In both the cases, it would be wrong to not credit the fighter. In this case, Marlon Vera deserves all the credit he has been getting for his win over Sean O'Malley. With this victory, Vera did not only snap O'Malley's of his undefeated win-streak, but also sent a notice to the entire division.
