Welcome to the... "Chito Show"? UFC 252's co-main event featured an intriguing matchup between undefeated bantamweight Sean O'Malley and the ever dangerous Marlon Vera.
Despite coming into Saturday's co-main event with a perfect 11-0 record, there were still some questions surrounding the 25-year-old O'Malley. Vera, who has never been knocked out in his career, was O'Malley's first real test in the UFC.
Unfortunately, fans weren't treated to the full Sugar Show. O'Malley suffered appeared to suffer an injury to his right leg midway through the first round, leaving him severely limited in his mobility. It's unclear if the injury was the result of a checked leg kick or simply O'Malley taking a misstep on the canvas, but either way Vera took advantage.
Towards the end of the round, O'Malley, who was basically hobbling around the Octagon in desperation mode, stumbled to the mat after a clinch and fell on his back. Vera immediately jumped on him to gain top position and unleashed a series of forearms and elbows.
With referee Herb Dean already seeing O'Malley limping around the Octagon, he was quick to wave off the fight as to prevent O'Malley from suffering any major damage.
It was a huge win for Vera who improved his record to 6-1 since 2018; however, there are some who argue he deserved the win over Song Yadong back in may and should be 7-0. Either way, Vera should find himself in the top 15 of the bantamweight division following the win.
"When he was throwing kicks to me, he landed one calf kick and I checked it and made adjustments. If you are going to kick with a kicker, you better be careful," Vera said after the fight. "Say something now. For real, a lot of people have a comment and opinion but that doesn't matter. I have an immigrant mentality and tough people in my corner. I'm a motivated man and the sky is the limit. I have children to feed and a mortgage to pay. I'm a motivated man."
"He has a big right hand and he don't throw numbers," Vera added. "I was taking the first round to see what he got. He don't have the dog I have inside. I say it again and again, the dog I have inside is bigger than the other guys."
O'Malley suffered a similar injury in 2018 against Andre Soukhamthath. While it's still unclear exactly what happened at UFC 252, it was the same foot that bothered him so it's possible that he re-injured it. He had previously described that injury as a foot fracture. While nothing should be taken away from Vera for the win, you can't help but be disappointment that O'Malley was clearly hampered by a hurt leg. Will the two run it back?