Aljamain Sterling bursts Sean O'Malley's bubble about daring Marlon 'Chito' Vera fight prediction

The sole loss on Sean O'Malley's UFC record came against Marlon 'Chito' Vera, which is clearly a matter of annoyance to the bright-haired bantamweight. On several occasions, 'Sugar' has denied the TKO defeat and called himself undefeated.

In a recent tweet, O'Malley boldly claimed that he will knock 'Chito' out in a rematch. The tweet got 135 lbs. champion Aljamain Sterling's attention, who took to correcting O'Malley with his own prediction:

"I think atm that you beat Chito by decision. But then I think the trilogy match up would be tougher to pick a winner if he makes the right adjustments. #MysticFunk"

Sterling's prediction may not be far off the mark, given O'Malley secured a controversially narrow split decision against Petr Yan in his previous outing.

Despite the claims, O'Malley gave credit where it was due and picked Vera to win against Cory Sandhagen in their upcoming clash.

"Chito is really good, very impressive last couple fights. Excited for his fight with Cory. I'm going for Chito. Rematch will be huge. Belt on the line. Will be epic."

O'Malley did not entirely rule out Sandhagen either.

Marlon 'Chito' Vera vs. Cory Sandhagen is set to go down later this month at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The major bantamweight matchup was initially scheduled for February 18 but was pushed back to March 25.

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Sean O'Malley UFC record: How did 'Sugar' claim the No. 1 contender spot?

It is clear from Sean O'Malley's tweet that he believes he will be the UFC bantamweight champion by the time he faces Marlon Vera again. He does not have a fight booked at the moment.

Sterling is expected to face unretiring double champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 in May with the belt on the line. Given O'Malley is the No.1-ranked bantamweight, it is likely that he will be given the title shot next regardless of the winner.

Surprisingly, it took Sean O'Malley only one fight to jump ten spots in the rankings and get to the No.1 position from No.11. Despite the bout results being labeled a "robbery", O'Malley's win against Yan catapulted him to the top contender spot overnight.

Before that, he had amassed a three-fight win streak since the loss to Vera, with one 'No Contest' against Pedro Munhoz due to an accidental eye poke.

A Dana White's Contender Series alum, O'Malley has been in the UFC since 2017. After securing the contract with a knockout win against DWCS opponent Alfred Khashakyan, he made his debut within six months and won four fights before getting stopped by Vera.

Some argue that the reason Sean O'Malley was given the top contender fight against Petr Yan is because of his personality and online presence and not his fight record. The controversial split decision further fueled the conversation afterward.

Nevertheless, he will be able to silence his critics if he manages to win against Aljamain Sterling or Henry Cejudo.