As far as Sean O’Malley is concerned, the judges won’t be required in Saturday’s UFC 299 main event in Miami, Florida.
The UFC bantamweight champion will seek to make the first successful defence of his crown as he seeks to avenge his sole career defeat against Ecuadorian veteran Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera, and he is confident of scoring his 13th career KO when the two rivals trade blows in the Sunshine State.
O’Malley, decked out in typically effervescent garb, rarely avoid bombast during Thursday’s pre-fight press conference, preferring instead to maintain a mostly cool demeanour as he lobbed insults at Vera, and a host of other 135-pound fighters.
It is a type of confidence, he said, that only comes with full knowledge that a knockout victory is in his immediate future.
“I’m very calm going into this fight,” O’Malley said. “It’s easy to be calm when you know you’re going to knock someone the f*ck out.”
The fight comes about three-and-a-half years after Vera scored a first-round TKO win over O’Malley; a finish which came after O’Malley sustained what is known as ‘drop foot’ — a type of temporary nerve damage — courtesy of a barrage of low kicks, before a barrage of elbows on the canvas.
But O’Malley isn’t worried about lightning striking twice.
“I’m going to just kick him in the lips,” O’Malley said. “He can kick my legs all he wants, but my leg’s going to be on his f*cking chin.”
He added: “Chito’s a f*cking pinata, Petr Yan’s one fight away from bare-knuckle boxing, and Merab’s nose is more crooked than Joe Biden,” O’Malley declared. “Let’s f*cking go, baby.”
As for Vera, fighting in his 33rd — and biggest — pro bout, he said that he has seen it all before.
“I’m ready to go,” Vera said. “I’m healthy, I’m happy, I’ve been doing everything, I had the long road, but I’m here and I’m going to dig deep for that gold.” This is a life-changing opportunity,” he added. “I worked so hard for this moment. It’s been 10 years in the company and I’ve been loved every single second of my career. I’m going to fight for the UFC gold, I love to be here.”
