Sean O’Malley interested in fighting Marlon Vera for next UFC bout, Vera responds

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Sean O’Malley interested in fighting Marlon Vera for next UFC bout, Vera responds

Seems Sean O’Malley has his next UFC opponent in sight.

The rising bantamweight contender recently showed interest in an August return, preferably to take on Marlon Vera. O’Malley expressed his opinion on the potential matchup on <a href=”

“If I fight ‘Chito’ who’s not ranked, they kicked him off the rankings, it’s like I still have options,” O’Malley said. “He’s good, he’s a black belt in jiu-jitsu. I think he beat Song Yadong, so I think he’s on a six-fight winning streak with five finishes. He finishes people in the later rounds. He’s tough, he’s got good cardio, so yeah it’s up to the UFC.

“You know how it is, you can have two guys say they want to fight and they don’t fight. That’s just how it is. So that’s an option in August, so that’s what’s probably next but I don’t know if he has any injuries or anything.”

Vera responded to O’Malley’s comments on Twitter, also showing interest in the potential showdown.

“Send me the papers and I promise you I make this guy quick and beg me to stop,” Vera tweeted.

The two young 135ers were scheduled to fight in early 2019, but their bout fell through after O’Malley was suspended by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for six months.

O’Malley is coming off a knockout win over former WEC champion Eddie Wineland back at UFC 250 earlier this month. Meanwhile, Vera fought in mid-May, where he suffered a controversial decision loss to Yadong, which snapped a five-fight winning streak.

Below is O’Malley and Vera’s back-and-forth on social media:

Sean O'Malley interested in fighting Marlon Vera for next UFC bout, Vera responds