Sean O'Malley heaps praise on Marlon Vera

Sean O’Malley has applauded Marlon Vera‘s dominant performance at UFC 331.

The talking point heading into his last fight was ‘Chito’ trying to get back on track after four straight defeats. Desperate to snap his losing streak, the Ecuador native parted ways with his longtime head coach, Jason Parillo, hoping to discover himself again in the cage. Vera was worried that without trying every approach to salvage his career, he would be filled with regrets once his fighting days are done.

That decision turned out to be a godsend. Marlon Vera delivered a performance that closely resembled his old self. A beautiful display of patience and violence. The win was his first in three years, beating a solid Charles Jourdain, who was unbeaten in the weight class.

The knockout win earned plaudits from Sean O’Malley, who highlighted just how good his former rival Vera truly looked.

“Four-fight losing streak. Everyone’s counting Chito out,” O’Malley said. “I said, ‘I think this might be the time that Chito finally gets put down, put out.’ He’s just not been looking- he hasn’t been looking bad. He hasn’t been looking good. He’s been looking kind of like he’s been looking throughout his career.”

“This might have been his best performance yet against a very dangerous Charles Jourdain on a good- I think he’s 3-0 at bantamweight. He’s making noise. He’s f***ing dangerous. He’s got good submissions. He can knock people out. And Chito went out there and broke him. He f***ing looked good. He did… Just how good is ‘Suga’ Sean? 50-45. Just an absolute dominant performance in Miami. The biggest fight in bantamweight history. The biggest gate in Miami history. But it’s not about me.”

Watch Sean O’Malley give Marlon Vera his flowers for a stunning performance and more in the video below.