Photo by Alexandre Schneider /Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
Undefeated bantamweight sensation Sean O’Malley dyed his hair the same colors as the Ecuadorian flag, which in terms of mind games, is right up there with Leon Edwards planning to walk out to one of Tyron Woodley’s shitty rap songs.
Unfortunately for “Sugar,” the stunt failed to rattle the cage of longtime 135-pound veteran Marlon Vera, who is used to getting abused by his older brothers. And judging by his reaction at the UFC 252 media day, “Chito” can give as good as he can get.
“My skin is thicker than his mom,” Vera said (transcribed by Andrew Whitelaw). “It’s hard to get in my mind. I was the youngest in the family. I got a lot of fucking bullies like my brother. We grew up fucking a lot with each other. Win, lose, draw whatever, I’m here to fight. I’m here to put on a show, and Saturday night my paycheck is going to grow.”
Vera (15-6-1) is looking to rebound from his unanimous decision loss to Song Yadong at the UFC on ESPN 8 event back in May. And derailing the O’Malley hype train would probably stand as the biggest victory of his six-year UFC career.
Their bantamweight showdown is locked and loaded for the UFC 252 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event this Sat. night (Aug. 15, 2020) inside the UFC APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier (finally) settle their longstanding heavyweight score.