“Good at getting beat up and then winning,” Team Sean O’Malley gives reality check to Chito Vera ahead of stunning UFC 299 card

Sean O’Malley puts his bantamweight title on the line against Marlon Vera, popularly known as ‘Chito Vera.’ This fight headlines the stacked UFC 299 fight card in Kaseya Center, Miami. With history behind them, the animosity between the two has only increased. On that note, O’Malley’s coach, Tim Welch, analyzed Vera’s fight style and stated the reality of it.

In his recent appearance on the MMA Hour Show, Tim Welch claimed Chito Vera won’t have much confidence. He deduced this by analyzing Vera’s previous fights with Cory Sandhagen and Pedro Munhoz. Here is what he said:

I don't think his confidence is going to be high. The way he showed up against Cory Sandhagen, he got smoked by Cory Sandhagen. Barely got past Pedro Munhoz... So, I don't think his confidence is super high.  But, Chito's dangerous, he is really really good at getting beat up and then winning, which is a dangerous thing. 

Tim Welch (via The MMA Hour)

Looking into Chito Vera’s recent fights, there was some credibility to Tim Welch’s claim. His latest fight with Pedro Munhoz looked close, although the scorecards favored Vera. Before this, ‘The Sandman’ dominated him throughout five rounds. Even in his bout with Dominick Cruz, Vera arguably lost on the scorecards until he knocked Cruz in the fourth round.

Sean O’Malley and Chito Vera faced each other at UFC 252, and Vera came out as the victor via TKO. However, ‘Suga’ claimed the victory was a fluke since he hurt a nerve from Vera’s kick. As such, he wanted to avenge Vera and settle the only black mark on his MMA record. This rematch goes down in UFC 299 next month.

Tim Welch wants Sean O’Malley to face Ilia Topuria and breaks down the potential fight

Ilia Topuria and Sean O’Malley have been beefing and buzzing about a potential matchup for a very long time. It all started even before ‘Suga’ won the bantamweight title. Now that he did, he aimed for a super fight with Topuria if he came victorious in his title fight against Alexander Volkanovski. Now, O’Malley’s coach, Tim Welch, expressed his wish of wanting the same for ‘Suga.’

Tim Welch claimed Sean O’Malley vs. Ilia Topuria was a huge fight in the UFC. As such, he looked at the possibility of it happening and broke down the fight. He said Topuria was an orthodox boxer with good technical skills and claimed O’Malley does better against those fighters. Further, he insinuated that El Matador was reserved about wanting this matchup. So, he boldly predicted ‘Suga’ could knock Topuria out.

However, Tim Welch also welcomed the idea of fighting bantamweight contenders like Merab Dvalishvili and Cory Sandhagen. But, ultimately, he wanted Sean O’Malley to face Ilia Topuria since it was a much bigger fight. However, the chances of that super-fight depended on their upcoming fights. ‘Suga’ has to win against Chito Vera, and Topuria has to get through Alexander Volkanovksi. So, UFC 298 and UFC 299 decide the fate of this potential fight.

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