Marlon Vera handed bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley his only career loss at UFC 252 in August of 2020. The two will rematch in the UFC 299 main event on March 9 in Miami, and “Chito” believes he’ll take O’Malley’s belt.
“He’s a very talented guy. He can fight and everything, but I said it before and I’ll say it again, he won’t keep up in a hard fight. He’s a guy that moves well… I’m going to make him fight. He’ll have to face me. I’ll be ready. I’ll be prepared, and I just know… I know what I did to be there. I know everything I’ve been through, so I’m going to get that belt. I’m going to go through him. I’m going to stop him, and I’m going to be world champion,” Vera told Michael Bisping on Bisping’s YouTube channel.
“To me, he’s just another fighter. I’m going to bring the most intense energy there and I’m going to be as mean as I can possibly be, and I’m going to really attempt to like hurt him at all times,” Vera said.
Vera’s no overnight success story. He began his fighting career in 2011. He’s had some losses, but he’s at the top of the division now.
“Coming from Ecuador, trying to figure it out, how to like get better. Come to the U.S., tried to put a win streak together… Get everything learned right, make sure my family is good, better home. It’s just been nonstop, keep trying, keep trying. Get the positive out of here, keep moving forward. It just feels good to accomplish things. It feels good to keep moving forward in life because that’s what it’s all about,” said Vera. “What are we doing here if we wouldn’t have tried to find a better life, do better things and try to live the best life you can.”
“I want to become world champion more than anything else in life,” Vera continued. “That’s what I want. I want to win the belt. I haven’t slowed down. I haven’t stopped thinking about it. When March 9th comes, I’ll be ready. I’m going to be there. I’m going to go hard. I’m going to take my time. I’m going to do everything I have to to get this belt, and it’ll be a great night. March 9 I’ll be champion.”
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Although Vera has beat O’Malley before, he’s entering the rematch like it’s a new fight on a new night.
“To me, I’m fighting a quick, taller guy,” said Vera. “That’s what really is going to come to it. How the game plan goes, we’ll see, but I’ll be ready to fight. I can chase a chicken and I can run away from anything, so we’ll be there. We’ll be ready for that.”
When asked how the fight’s going to go, Vera said, “I’m going to beat the f**k out of him and walk away with a bag of cash and the belt.”
“I really believe I’m going to make him quit. I believe I’m going to make him just be a shell of himself and kick is ass. Like almost beg me to stop kind of thing.”
https://www.mmaweekly.com/news/marlon-vera-im-going-to-beat-the-f-k-out-of-sean-omalley
