Marlon Vera doesn’t have a lot of kind words to say about Sean O’Malley.
On Saturday, “Chito” challenges O’Malley for the bantamweight title in the main event of UFC 299 in Miami. The two previously fought at UFC 252, with Vera scoring a first-round knockout after O’Malley injured his leg, and as the bout approaches, the heat between the two continues to grow. Speaking to reporters at the UFC 299 Media Day, O’Malley said he and Vera had been exchanging DMs ahead of the fight, and when it was his turn to field questions, Chito gave his side of things.
“He’s a weird guy,” Vera told reporters at UFC 299 Media Day. “He likes weird s***. I tried to stay away from it. The only thing I did was send him a picture of me back, and I haven’t even read what he said after.
“I get it. One of his main tools is getting in people’s heads. Good luck with that. I’m going to f*** you up. I’m prepared for Saturday night. So he’s trying to start things. Yesterday, he asked me if I was ready to lose the fight. He didn’t catch my answer. I would have loved the camera catch what I said back to him, but they only got one side. But that’s just one tool to the game. I’m ready for a fight. My mind is in the right place and I’m going to kick his ass.”
Cameras actually did get Vera’s response, and the entire scene can be viewed in the latest episode of UFC 299 Embedded, but Vera was also kind enough to expound for the reporters.
“I asked him to suck my d***,” Vera explained. “I mean, simple as that. I’m not here to be friendly, I’m not here to be respectful. I’m not a karate guy, I’m a fighter. So you f*** with me, I’m going to f****** f*** with you. I’m not f****** around, man.”
Vera continued, saying that all of this is just O’Malley’s attempt to get in his head, but that it won’t work. And Chito added that he has a much more direct plan of getting into O’Malley’s head: his fist.
“I’m going to get in there and I’m going to drill a hole through his face,” Vera said. “Then what? There’s no talking in there. I know his corner likes to do talking when we’re in there, but I would love my corner to give me advice to win the fight. If my corner is more concerned about talking s*** about my opponent and they don’t tell me what to do, I wouldn’t be with those people.”
And once that’s done and he’s the new bantamweight champion, don’t expect much to change for Chito. He plans on doing exactly the same thing he’s done for years: fighting whoever the UFC puts in front of him.
“I will keep it real,” Vera said when asked about his title reign. “I’ll do the same thing I’ve been doing through the years. I will defend the belt against whoever is No. 1. I’m not going to start getting picky or go to a different weight class. Whoever is next in line, send them to me. Just do like that, like a real champion.”
