[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag]’s title win was great, but so was the mistake that Aljamain Sterling made, according to top contender [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag].
UFC 292 this past Saturday was host of one of the biggest championship upsets of the year. Sterling saw his record-setting title run come to an end, as he was stopped by O’Malley, who entered the fight as a significant underdog.
While Vera (21-8-1 MMA, 15-7 UFC) doesn’t want to take any credit away from O’Malley’s win, he does think Sterling made a crucial mistake by rushing “Sugar.”
“It was great. That’s picture-perfect,” Vera told Morning Kombat when asked about O’Malley’s win. “You’re fighting a guy that’s a really clean striker, that has really good sit in the punches, and you just run to the guy? What do you think it’s going to happen?”
[lawrence-related id=2673676,2673206]
“Chito,” who defeated Pedro Munhoz that same night in Boston, is hoping to get a title shot, and thinks he’s one to hang with O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) on the feet. After all, Vera did stop O’Malley in 2020, and is currently the only fighter in the promotion that holds a win over the new champion.
“I’m at that level. I can hang with anyone in the standup,” Vera explained. “I can be in front of you. I can make reads. Sterling is just, a great f*cking champion and good wrestling, but he just don’t have that standup to be right there eye to eye playing chess. He just doesn’t have that. I do have that.
“I fought every single world-class striker and neither, no one has put me in a bad position just because I’m in there and I have a good base. Going back to the coach (Jason Parillo), he’s the one that brought me to the next level: The eyes, the coordination, the striking. Just growing my toughness and hard work ethic and polishing everything. I can hang with anyone. I already fought Sean. I was already in front of him. Now it’s a good time to do it. Sterling made a big mistake. You cannot run to someone – even if the guy is not a good striker.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030788]