Cory Sandhagen thinks UFC Bantamweight Champion Sean O’Malley must avoid one thing in order to have his hand raised over Marlon Vera next month.
O’Malley is slated to make his first defense of the 135-pound title since taking it from Aljamain Sterling in Boston last August. Despite his place in the rankings and 1-1 record in 2023, Vera has been granted the opportunity.
The Ecuadorian’s jump up to the title comes courtesy of his history with the champ, with Vera being the only fighter to hold a victory over O’Malley in professional mixed martial arts.
In the main event of UFC 299, “Chito” will be looking to repeat his feat from 2020, while Sean O’Malley is targeting revenge for the TKO loss he was handed.
And one man who knows a thing or two about sharing the cage with Vera has identified Sean O’Malley’s key to victory on March 9.
Cory Sandhagen Tells Sean O’Malley: ‘If You Don’t Let Him Catch You, He Won’t Beat You’
During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Sandhagen looked ahead to the next championship fight in his division, which is set for the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
“The Sandman” knows what it takes to beat Vera, having done so on the scorecards in the main event of a San Antonio-held UFC Fight Night last March.
From his experience fighting “Chito” and watching his previous wins over Dominick Cruz and Frankie Edgar, Sandhagen thinks the name of the game for O’Malley is pretty simple — don’t get caught.
“Neither one of those guys have super-exciting styles, outside of the athleticism of O’Malley and then the power that ‘Chito’ has,” Sandhagen said. “I think O’Malley checks the boxes of what a better striker is, just as far as athleticism goes, defensively. He just checks more of those boxes, because it’s not gonna be a grappling and wrestling match.
“I mean, ‘Chito’ has a chance, of course. But if you look at ‘Chito’s’ history, if you don’t let him catch you, he won’t beat you,” Sandhagen continued. “That’s how I was able to beat him. Cruz was beating him, Frankie was beating him, and then they just got caught in the later rounds because either they lost focus or they got tired or whatever. I just didn’t make that mistake, and as long as O’Malley doesn’t make that mistake, I think he’ll likely win that fight.”
When it comes to putting that into practice, Sean O’Malley hasn’t appeared short on confidence. In the lead-up to UFC 299 on March 9, “Sugar” has repeatedly vowed to stop Vera early.
Whether or not that comes to fruition remains to be seen, but like Sandhagen advises, the champ is evidently not planning on letting Vera connect with his renowned power shots come fight night.