"I heard you want to fight?" - Marlon Vera taunts Sean O’Malley with memories of first encounter in 2020

Marlon Vera reminded Sean O’Malley of what happened when they first fought in the Octagon.

In May 2020, ‘Chito’ had a five-win streak snapped due to a unanimous decision loss against Yadong Song. Three months later, the Ecuadorian bantamweight was matched up against then-undefeated rising superstar Sean O’Malley for the UFC 252 main card.

At the time, Vera wasn't receiving the respect he does now, leading to him being a 3-1 betting underdog. ‘Chito’ silenced the doubters that night by compromising O’Malley’s leg before securing a first-round finish via ground and pound.

Three years later, O’Malley became the UFC bantamweight champion by dethroning Aljamain Sterling with a second-round TKO finish on August 19. Things seem to be coming full circle, as ‘Sugar’ and ‘Chito’ fought on the same night, which could help materialize the highly-anticipated rematch for later this year.

As tensions rise, ‘Chito’ reminded O’Malley of their first fight by sharing a picture on Instagram of his brutal ground and pound. He captioned the social media post with the following:

“Excuse me I was busy, I heard you want to fight?”

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Marlon Vera tells UFC brass to send contract for Sean O’Malley rematch

The UFC bantamweight division is stacked, but several injuries and weird situations could lead to number six-ranked Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera getting the next title shot. The Ecuadorian bantamweight contender seems to smell blood, as he hasn’t stopped advocating for the rematch against Sean O’Malley.

During a recent episode on The MMA Hour, Vera had this to say about his conversations with the UFC brass:

"It's up to Dana [White], Hunter [Campbell], Sean Shelby, and I have a feeling, they wanna do this too, so if you guys are listening, I'm in. Send papers, I sign that sh*t, let's do it."

Since defeating O’Malley, ‘Chito’ has had his ups and downs with a 5-2 run, including losses against Jose Aldo and Cory Sandhagen, separating a four-fight win streak. The 30-year-old last fought on August 19, defeating Pedro Munhoz by unanimous decision.

Meanwhile, O’Malley has emerged as a massive superstar since suffering his first professional MMA loss against ‘Chito.’ The 28-year-old has won five of his last six fights, four by KO/TKO, with a no-contest against Munhoz being the only blunder.

‘Sugar’ is now riding momentum after taking out Sterling to become the bantamweight king.