Despite being the -110 favorite in the UFC 306 main event, Sean O’Malley got outworked by Merab Dvalishvili for five rounds. The Georgian fighter’s pressure and relentlessness proved too much for ‘Suga’, who was constantly on the backfoot the entire fight. ‘The Machine’ managed to take O’Malley down six times, with a ground control time of 10 minutes – the most that anyone has managed to keep O’Malley grounded. Even though he lost the fight, O’Malley claimed he won the last two rounds of the fight. This visibly didn’t sit well with his former rival Marlon Vera.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani, the Ecuadorean former title contender gave his thoughts on a matchup with Merab Dvalishvili. Helwani asked ‘Chito’ what he thought about O’Malley’s victory claims over ‘The Machine’, to which the Ecuadorian fighter replied, “I was there [at UFC 306]. I mean the first time he played [that, saying], ‘I won the fight’, with the commission and blah, blah, blah – it was fun. But, the second time – come on, dude. Get a job or grow up. One time, it was cool – the first time, with me… sure. ‘Yeah, it was a fluke. God gave me some strength in my fat toe. Now, it’s like, okay. We already heard the same s**t.”

Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera  is one of two men who have a win over ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley. He is also the only man to have a finish over the American fighter. When they met the first in 2020, Vera found a first-round ground-and-pound finish after a misstep that injured O’Malley’s ankle. Despite losing, ‘Suga’ gave no props to Chito calling him ‘lucky’ in that fight.

The two met again at UFC 299, where O’Malley put an absolute clinic on the South American fighter. ‘Chito’ didn’t find much success in his next fight, and lost to Deiveson Figueiredo in Abu Dhabi this August. With three losses in his last four, Marlon Vera needs a win over a significant opponent to get back in the title contention conversation. While not confirmed, Vera hinted at a possible match-up with a former two-weight champion.

“I will punch him in the face” – Marlon Vera wants Henry Cejudo next

Losing back-to-back fights to O’Malley and Figueiredo within six months led ‘Chito’ to have some very real conversations with himself. Speaking to Ariel Helwani, ‘Chito’ confessed feeling ‘burnt out’ despite being in shape when he faced Deiveson Figueiredo. He admitted that he should have returned in November at MSG, rather than in the August Abu Dhabi card.

Here’s what Vera told Helwani about accepting his last fight on four weeks’ notice, “They [UFC] called me at the end of June, which pretty much gave me four weeks of training camp. And, I just got excited, I was like – ‘F**k yeah! I’m ready’. But then I didn’t realize [that] I was a little burnt [out], you know, to fight, But when you’re in shape, you think you’re fine but sometimes it’s really hard to check mentally where you’re at – whether you’re feeling good. And I was feeling good, so I don’t have excuses. So, I went in there and when I was in there, I was kind of like, ‘Ah, here we go again. I gotta do this s**t? Okay. Let’s go, let’s f*****g get in a fistfight.”

The No.6-ranked bantamweight admitted he should have taken ample time to rest after fighting O’Malley, rather than fight Figueiredo. ‘Chito’ won’t fight at MSG, but expressed an interest in fighting former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo in early 2025. Here’s what Vera told Helwani when the veteran journalist asked him about his next fight, “I think January in LA can be great for me? LA can be good or Mexico City if they give me the main event. And, I mean, the guy ahead of me Henry Cejudo – I’m No.6, he’s No.5 if I’m not wrong. So, Henry Cejudo in Mexico City can be [a great fight], or even LA can be great.”

Helwani immediately showed excitement at the prospect of ‘Chito’ facing Cejudo and asked Vera if he would wrestle the former champion, to which Vera said, “No, well, I will punch him in the face to be honest. But, we’ll see, we’ll see. I think that’ a great fight [for me].”

For Vera, Cejudo is a straight ticket to the top 5. He will probably need another top 5 win to call for a title shot but ‘Triple C’ is surely a starting point. It is, however, unlikely that Cejudo fights below the rankings when he could much rather call for a shot at O’Malley or the champion Dvalishvili. What do you think? Is Vera vs. Cejudo the bantamweight fight to make in 2025?