Marlon Vera scoffs at support from ‘idiot’ Henry Cejudo ahead rematch with Sean O’Malley

Marlon Vera reacted to Henry Cejudo predicting he will soon become a champion by branding the former flyweight and bantamweight titleholder an ‘idiot’.

Earlier this week, Dana White announced that ‘Chito’ will face bantamweight king Sean O’Malley in an eagerly anticipated rematch at UFC 299 on March 9.

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The pair met for a face-off in New York after previously clashing in a famous fight at UFC 252 in August 2020 – one Vera won by a first-round stoppage.

After that, O’Malley beat four contenders to earn a title shot before knocking out Aljamain Sterling inside two rounds at UFC 292 earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Vera has won five of his seven fights since then.

UFC legend Jose Aldo and Cory Sandhagen have fairly recent victories over him, but they weren’t enough to derail his grudge match with O’Malley.

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Vera is expected to enter his first title fight as an underdog, but he has the backing of ‘Triple C’ who believes O’Malley will wilt when the going gets tough at UFC 299.

“Vera beats him just based on endurance,” Cejudo said on his .

“A guy like Sean O’Malley hasn’t gone through the trenches. He hasn’t gone through the who’s who. Yeah, he’s got a controversial win, which still, I don’t believe he beat [Petr] Yan.

"Then he’s got one that he happened to throw a right hand and he caught Aljamain Sterling. Was it an early stoppage? Yeah, I’m not here to complain.

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“What I’m saying is he hasn’t been through the trenches against really tough guys, and I do believe ‘Chito,’ if he can just do the same gameplan as he did his last fight and take out his legs, it’ll be the exact same outcome.”

The Ecuadorian fight star dismissed Cejudo despite being supported by the UFC legend who is also a respected up-and-coming coach.

“He’s an idiot,” Vera told marvelbet369.com during the grand opening of the Bodega at Madison Square Garden on Friday afternoon.

"I don’t want to hear what he has to say about me.

“He’s a f***ing little s*** talking s***."

It seems another grudge match with Cejudo could happen in 2024.

Only if Vera proves the MMA icon right by adding another win over O'Malley and a UFC title to his list of accomplishments early next year.