UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley has responded to Marlon Vera after “Chito” criticized a video of “Sugar” giving out money to strangers.
O’Malley and Vera’s feud has been well-documented across the past year-and-a-half. The rivalry began when they met inside the Octagon at UFC 252 in August 2020. Inside the opening round, the Ecuadorian handed O’Malley his first professional MMA loss.
Since then, the pair have thrown shade at each other on social media and in interviews, with Vera even accusing O’Malley of ducking a rematch last year. The latest exchange came after “Sugar” put his charitable side on full display in a video uploaded to YouTube.
But while many praised the #12-ranked bantamweight for passing on $100 to other individuals who were perhaps in more need of it than him, “Chito” had a different view. Taking to Twitter, he branded O’Malley a “piece of shit” for recording the good deed.
“U don’t need a camera guy to help people. you piece of shit,” he tweeted.
O’Malley Fires Back
As you’d expect, O’Malley has since responded to his foe’s comments. In a recent episode of his podcast, the Montana native slammed Vera, suggesting he wouldn’t have given the same charitable donations back to the community as he has.
O’Malley added that Vera showed his true colors by speaking out against his video and insisted he still felt good about his money-giving venture despite his fellow ranked bantamweight’s opinion.
“Giving out money. Some people didn’t like it,” O’Malley said. “This one guy (Vera) tweeted something like, ‘You can give money out, you don’t need a cameraman,’ something stupid… He said camera guy, I’m like, well, first of all, it’s my sister, she’s a girl, don’t be sexist. Girls can record videos, too. Some people have no respect.
“‘I thought it was pretty fun. I enjoyed it. I had a good feeling in my heart, giving money to those people. Most of them were like, ‘Oh my god, dude, I needed this.’ I still feel like a good person… It doesn’t matter what someone thinks. I think he got a lot of hate for it. I’m like, ‘Dude, you look like an idiot. Why would you say that? I’m helping people.’ I guarantee I gave more to my people than he ever has. My people, random people, there’s just no way he’s done that… Super weird. I think it just shows true colors.”
Since his setback against Vera, O’Malley has been back to his best. With three victories in 2021, “Sugar” recorded three finishes, earned three post-fight bonuses, and broke into the bantamweight top 15.
With “Chito” on a similar run having beaten Davey Grant and Frankie Edgar, it seems we could be seeing the pair run it back sooner rather than later. O’Malley has previously claimed the rematch is inevitable, and as both continue rising the ranks, it’s hard to imagine them not meeting in the cage again.
Do you think Marlon Vera was wrong to criticize Sean O’Malley’s charitable video?
