Sean O'Malley was right, he's way better than Marlon Vera
Sean O'Malley was right, he's way better than Marlon Vera
In the lead up to UFC 299, Sean O'Malley told everyone that he was gifting Marlon Vera a title shot, instead he handed him a beating.
Bantamweight has, for some time now, played host to a sort of strange dichotomy. On the one hand, it has slowly gained recognition as perhaps the deepest division in all of mixed martial arts. A seemingly perfect cross-section of skill at a point where fighters aren’t so small as to strike the slightly comical air that flyweights seem to create in the minds of so many.
Bantamweight fighters may be little, but they still hit hard enough to knock each other out, and they dipslay a level of talent across the board that is undeniable. At times it feels like the division is just one big top-15 level talent pool from top to bottom.
On the other hand, it maybe that’s why the division has had such a big problem finding a real solid champion, despite all its impressive depth. Dominick Cruz has long held the mantle as MMA’s most storied bantamweight king… off a collected three title defenses over two reigns. A career snakebit by injury that carries more the flavor of ‘what if’ than what was.
Meanwhile Renan Barao spent the majority of his reign living under Cruz’s shadow, only to have the belt swiftly wrested from him by now-known cheater TJ Dillashaw. Cody Garbrandt was a flash in the pan and Henry Cejudo stuck around just long enough for a cup of coffee before taking a three year hiatus. Bringing us up neatly to the Yan/Aljo years, which were just messy all the way through.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that the whole history of this division has been a little bit weird. Something that, just right now, makes what we saw at UFC 299 feel a little bit special…