Sean O’Malley is switching up the UFC champion’s look in his first title defense.
That’s right, the UFC bantamweight champion will be sporting pink and gold shorts instead of the traditional black and gold shorts worn exclusively by champions. The change was shared by O’Malley and announced by the promotion Tuesday on social media.
O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) defends his 135-pound title belt this Saturday against Marlon Vera (21-8-1 MMA, 15-7 UFC) in the main event of UFC 299 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) at Kaseya Center in Miami.
Below, you can check out O’Malley’s custom pink shorts for his championship fight:
4 days out from 299, go buy the PPV before it sells out! pic.twitter.com/xu4jCazxO2
— Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) March 5, 2024
Sean O’Malley will be defending his title this Saturday at #UFC299 with pink shorts. Champions usually rock the black and gold shorts.
: @ufc pic.twitter.com/kHyJC7I32e
— Danny Segura (@dannyseguratv) March 5, 2024
This will be O’Malley’s first title defense as he picked up the belt this past August by stopping Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. The fight against Vera will be a rematch and an opportunity for “Suga” to avenge his only professional loss.
The two fought back in 2020 at UFC 252. Vera won the bout by first-round TKO after damaging O’Malley’s leg with a kick and then finishing him on the ground with strikes.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.
Sean O’Malley reveals special pink shorts he’ll be rocking at UFC 299