UFC 252: Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera says Sean O’Malley’s coach was talking smack on way to the cage

‘Chito’ laughs off talk of early stoppage, saying ‘the guy was snoring, when I landed the second elbow he was making noises’

Vera claims credit for injuring O’Malley – ‘I threw a hard calf kick, his nerve just … he kicked me really hard in the leg, but my shin is stronger than his’

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Sean O'Malley (left) and Marlon Vera face off during the UFC 252 weigh-in. Photos: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Published: 9:27am, 17 Aug 2020Updated: 9:27am, 17 Aug 2020

Marlon Vera took great pleasure in shutting up Sean O’Malley’s coach, whom he claims was talking smack on about him on their way to the Octagon at UFC 252 on Saturday night.

“Chito” (16-6-1) was a heavy underdog with bookmakers but shut down the “Sugar” hype train with a first-round TKO, handing O’Malley (12-1) his first loss. The 25-year-old American was also taken out of the UFC Apex on a stretcher after suffering a serious leg injury.

Some fans and media questioned whether it was an early stoppage, with referee Herb Dean stepping in after four unanswered shots, and likely taking into account that O’Malley couldn’t even stand on his leg.

“The guy was snoring,” Vera said of O’Malley at the UFC 252 post-event presser. “When I landed the second elbow he was making noises, he was out. And then when [referee] Herb Dean got in the middle, you could see [O’Malley’s] head bounce back.

“I see his corner saying, ‘No, that was too early’. We make eye contact and I was like, ‘You know that s*** wasn’t early’, and the guy was pretty quiet all of a sudden.