Sean O'Malley explains how octagon size could affect Cory Sandhagen vs. Marlon Vera

Sean O'Malley believes the size of the octagon could play a crucial role in the UFC on ESPN 43 main event between Cory Sandhagen and Marlon Vera this weekend.

The exciting bantamweight bout will headline this weekend's event in San Antonio, Texas. The bout was originally scheduled to take place in the UFC Apex Center in Las Vegas, where the octagon is 25 feet in diameter, compared to the standard UFC octagon, which measures 30 feet in diameter.

Both Sandhagen and Vera are known for their striking abilities, but their styles differ in several ways. 'The Sandman' is known for his elusive movement and array of whipping strikes, whereas 'Chito' stalks his opponents and lands powerful, crisp blows.

Sean O'Malley broke down the matchup during episode #100 of the BROMALLEY podcast and said this:

"Cory's good, he's so fast, he can move backwards, he's good at not getting hit. Then there's Chito, who's good at getting hit, he doesn't take a ton of damage though, he wears [the damage] good. He keeps walking forward. Very interesting matchup, and I wonder what size cage it's in... I know I bring it up a lot... dude if you play a basketball game and they're like, 'Okay let's just play half court' It's a different game. It's a different sport. You change one thing about it, it's a different sport. I don't think people realize how big the normal UFC octagon is, the small cage sucks."

Watch the video below from 14:00:

Both Cory Sandhagen and Marlon Vera are vying for a shot at the bantamweight title, and occupy the fifth and third rankings in the division. However, Sean O'Malley could face the winner of the 135 pound title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo.

'Suga' is coming off of a victory over former champion Petr Yan, and is ranked No.2 in the division.

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Sean O'Malley reflects on the UFC 286 main event

Sean O'Malley was highly impressed with Leon Edwards' performance at UFC 286 last weekend. 'Rocky' retained the welterweight title against Kamaru Usman in the main event, winning the bout via unanimous decision.

Edwards became the second British UFC champion to defend the title on home soil, after Michael Bisping, and he closed out the trilogy with Usman 2-1 in favor of 'Rocky'.

O'Malley believes that Edwards showed a level of confidence going into UFC 286 that he could only have acquired from becoming the champion.

On episode #100 of the BROMALLEY podcast, 'Suga' said:

"I thought it could be a draw, 'cause of round one where [Edwards] got a point deducted. But he won the decision and got a point deducted? That was so impressive...They say once you become champ you [improve] 30%, your skill level, confidence, everything."