Sean O’Malley maintains he is undefeated despite having lost his UFC 252 bout to Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera nearly four years ago. But, despite not accepting this defeat, the bantamweight champion has chosen Vera as his first title defense to avenge the only loss on his record.

And while not accepting a loss may come across as unsportsmanlike (except when done masterfully and for comedic effect, as by Chael Sonnen), ‘Suga’ does have a good case for why he at least believes he is undefeated.

Sean O’Malley’s nerve injury against Marlon Vera at UFC 252

In August 2020, the then-undefeated rising star Sean O’Malley took on Marlon Vera in the co-main event at UFC 252. The betting favorite going into the bout, ‘Suga’ was expected to win against the Ecuadorian. However, Vera managed to stop the Montana native in the first round to briefly derail the hype train surrounding the flamboyant bantamweight.

What was apparent during the bout was that O’Malley’s right foot was not functioning properly as he started stumbling and tripping over himself. After the fight, ‘Suga’ revealed that one of Vera’s leg kicks had hit his peroneal nerve (which controls sensation and movement in the lower leg), which caused his right foot to go limp and the TUF alumni to stagger every time he put his weight on the leg, eventually tripping and falling down. Vera pounced on him and finished the job with some heavy elbows not too soon after.

Due to this freak injury, O’Malley has maintained that he is still undefeated since Vera did not beat him because of his skill, power, or strategy but due to something that was out of anyone’s control. This matchup has, however, come under fire from fans.

Does Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera deserve a title shot against Sean O’Malley?

Before the UFC announced that Sean O’Malley would rematch ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 299 on March 9 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, not many were expecting it to be made. Vera was then ranked #5 in the division and there were calls from fans to let #2 ranked Merab Dvalishvili, then on a nine-fight win streak, serve as O’Malley’s first title defense.

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O’Malley, on the other hand, had been calling for a rematch with ‘Chito’ to resolve their unfinished business. However, many felt that there were a few other contenders, higher in the rankings than Vera and with a better case to be made for a title shot. And ‘Suga’ himself admitted in a recent interview with Helen Yee that he was surprised the UFC agreed, given that he did not think Vera was the most deserving of a title shot.

“I’m honestly surprised that it’s happening, in a sense. I didn’t think that he would get to the title shot, and did he really deserve it after his performance over Pedro (Munhoz)? I don’t know, but I thought, ‘You know what? It’s time that I take him out.’ So here we are, and it’s very exciting,” he said. What do you think about O’Malley’s comments? And will he even the score this Saturday?

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