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“F**k no, f**k him. He has to go fight and prove himself. Let’s be real he was fighting low-level competition.”
Marlon Vera believes Sean O’Malley ‘quit’ in their co-headlining bantamweight bout at UFC 252 last week, claiming that ‘Suga’ wasn’t as injured as he made out to be.
O’Malley was thought to have broken his foot in the first round but the X-ray came back clean. A further MRI scan is needed but, according to Vera, it was O’Malley’s mind that broke at UFC 252.
“Now that the fight is over, he didn’t hurt his ankle. The x-rays came back clean,” Vera told BJPENN.com in a recent interview. “What I did to him, is basically when someone punches you in the jaw you go out. His legs went out. I don’t give a f**k what people think or say. There will always be haters.”
“He went out. But, man if they don’t stop it I would’ve beat him worse in the second. Everyone has an opinion. It was a solid win and I am happy, I wouldn’t change anything,” added Vera. “I am going to be honest, he quit. But, at the end of the day, I know my kicks are powerful and it f****d up his leg. His nerve went away when I kicked him.”
As far as a rematch is concerned Vera, who finished O’Malley via first-round TKO, is moving on to bigger and better things, with ‘Chito’ targeting a bantamweight bout with seasoned veteran Jimmie Rivera.
“F**k no, f**k him. He has to go fight and prove himself. Let’s be real he was fighting low-level competition,” Vera said. “I want Jimmie Rivera next and that is what will happen next. There is nowhere he can run now or any excuses he can make. Right now, he has his back against his wall and can’t be picking his opponents. We have been scheduled to fight a couple of times, that is the fight to make. I would finish him. I will put the pace and pressure on him and I believe I finish him.”
Vera, 27, is currently #14 in the UFC bantamweight rankings.