Sean O'Malley wants to make a big statement when he fights Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276. The popular bantamweight fighter recently took to Twitter to give his prediction on what to expect when the two fight on July 2.
'Sugar' wrote:
"Finishing Pedro July 2nd"
Check out the tweet below:
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This is an upgrade from O'Malley's previous Twitter declaration on May 18 regarding the fight, which simply said "I will beat Pedro." Perhaps halfway through June, we can expect a Conor McGregor-style 'Mystic Mac' prediction complete with what round and method of victory.
Sean O'Malley has spent the first four years of his UFC career fighting opponents outside of the top ten rankings. According to him, that was by design as he didn't feel like he was getting paid enough to fight the top names in the division.
That sentiment has changed leading up to this next fight against the No. 10 ranked Munhoz. Now O'Malley is excited to climb up the rankings and sees a title fight in his future. In a recent episode of The MMA Hour, O'Malley said:
"Two more finishes, early 2023 I'm fighting for the belt, whoever has it. I think after this fight I go out there, I gotta finish Pedro [Munoz]. And I go out there, say I finish Pedro, I get a top five guy, whoever that is. Depending on if [Marlon] 'Chito' [Vera] gets a fight booked, I know that's a fight that I want."
Marlon Vera accepts Sean O'Malley's callout; "I'll kick his a** again"
Marlon Vera currently sits up in the No. 5 position of the official UFC bantamweight rankings, but he's still willing to fight No. 13 ranked Sean O'Malley again. The two initially fought in August 2020, and O'Malley seemed to be controlling the fight before a calf kick from Vera hobbled him, leading to a TKO loss.
O'Malley was insistent following the fight that he still considered himself undefeated. He also said Marlon Vera didn't deserve a rematch. Now that 'Chito' is on a three-fight win streak, 'Sugar' has deemed Vera worthy. Asked what he thought of that, Vera told The Schmo:
“He has a fight coming up, I don’t have a fight yet, but if they want to make it happen, I’ll kick his ass again, put him out the same way. He can keep talking, I’ll keep winning.”
Watch Marlon Vera discuss a rematch with Sean O'Malley below: