Sean O'Malley on why he's leaning towards Dominick Cruz in fight against Marlon Vera, says "it's hard to count 'Chito' out"

Sean O’Malley recently weighed in on the highly-anticipated bantamweight matchup between Marlon Vera and Dominick Cruz, picking Cruz to emerge victorious. ‘Sugar’ was subsequently accused of being biased against his longtime rival, 'Chito.'

Marlon Vera clashed with the then-undefeated Sean O’Malley in August 2020. The fight witnessed ‘Sugar’ suffer a gruesome leg injury, turning him into a relatively stationary target against the dangerous 'Chito.' Vera ended up beating O’Malley via first-round TKO. To this day, it's the lone loss on O’Malley’s MMA record.

Presently, the No. 13-ranked UFC bantamweight O’Malley is set to clash with the No. 9-ranked Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276 on July 2. During the UFC 276 media day event, O’Malley fielded multiple questions regarding his upcoming fight and more.

Sportskeeda MMA’s James Lynch was onsite to cover the media day event. O’Malley was notably asked about the Vera-Cruz matchup and whom he favors, given that he’s fought ‘Chito’ in the past. O’Malley responded by stating:

“It’s hard to count ‘Chito’ out.” O’Malley added, “I don’t know. I’m excited for that fight. I’m excited to see how that plays out.” He continued, “I predicted Dominick would win, and people think it’s biased. But I also thought ‘Chito’ was going to beat Rob [Font], I thought ‘Chito’ was going to beat Frankie [Edgar], and he kind of did. So, we’ll see.”

Watch O’Malley discuss the topic at 4:42 in the video below:

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Marlon Vera makes a bold claim ahead of his UFC showdown with Dominick Cruz

Marlon Vera currently holds the No. 5 position in the official UFC bantamweight rankings, while Dominick Cruz stands at the No. 8 spot. With that being said, the consensus is that Vera still has a long way to go before being heralded amongst the all-time greats. Meanwhile, Cruz is already regarded by many as a bona fide MMA legend.

‘The Dominator’ is a former two-time UFC bantamweight champion and the first to ever hold the bantamweight belt in the UFC. While he’s been splitting time, working as a fighter and a UFC commentator in recent years, he’s consistently maintained that he aims to reclaim his former glory before retiring.

Needless to say, the stakes are incredibly high in the much-awaited bantamweight matchup between ‘Chito’ and Cruz. They’ll clash in a five-round fight that’ll headline the UFC Fight Night: Vera vs. Cruz event on August 13th.

Ahead of their pivotal clash, Marlon Vera made a bold prediction and suggested that he’ll finish 'The Dominator.' Posting a tweet in Spanish, a rough translation of which has been noted below, Vera warned:

"August 13, I finish with you Cruz." [Translated by Google]