Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena was booed, Chito Vera cheered, while Suga Sean O’Malley … well, he sat up on stage, kicked back and rockin’ an outfit louder than it all.
“But it’s easy to be calm,” the UFC bantamweight king grinned, “when you know you’re gunna knock someone the f… out”.
Only days out from a stacked UFC 299 card in Miami, Florida, O’Malley looked every inch a fight star as he answered questions on stage all white pants, bare chest and a bright green coat covered in tassels.
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Which, of course, made him easiest to pick out on stage.
But as for who the raucous Miami crowd wanted?
That honour, undeniably, went to his rival, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera.
That Ecuadorian fight favourite who comes into this blockbuster title fight carrying the crowd, the storyline and, of course, that incredible win over O’Malley back in 2020.
Which four years on, remains the American star’s only loss.
But worry?
“I’m very calm coming into this fight,” O’Malley said up on stage, right before going into his KTFO line.
Soon after too, the champ – who was also rocking a unique pair of sunnies and that signature hairstyle coloured pink and blue – was also quick to respond when asked about Vera before fan favourite.
“Chito is a f…ing pinata,” he started, before turning his attention to the rest of the bantamweight field.
“Petr Yan is one fight from bareknuckle boxing and Merab (Dvalishvili) has a noise more crooked than Joe ‘f…ing’ Biden.
“Let’s go baby.”
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Quizzed on Vera’s promise to pepper his legs with kicks come fight time, the champ continued: “I’ll kick him in the lips, baby.
“He can kick my legs all he wants.
“But my leg is going to be on his f…ing chin.”
So as for a third fight down the track, just to put a bow on this rivalry?
“I wouldn’t mind knocking him out a third time,” O’Malley deadpanned.
At which point the questions turned to Vera, however so loud was the crowd that, eventually, UFC boss Dana White had to lean into his ear and repeat the words being directed his way.
“Oh man I’m ready to go,” he grinned.
“Healthy, happy.
“It’s been a long road but I’m here. And I’m going to dig deep for that gold.”
Later, he went further on O’Malley, promising to “take his head off”.
Elsewhere, Perth boy ‘Della’ – aka Australia’s rising welterweight star – was booed on the couple of occasions he grabbed the microphone, with his Brazilian rival Gilbert Burns clearly the fan favourite Stateside.
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Currently ranked at No.11 in the welterweight division, JDM will catapult himself into the top five should he beat Burns – who, just quietly, has been fighting in the UFC since before the Aussie was even fighting professionally.
Asked if he was ready to make a statement, Maddalena replied: “Big statement … cruise into the top five and bounce.”
Burns, meanwhile, said he respected his Aussie rival.
“We’re going to put on a show,” he said. “This guy is tough.
“I like the guy, respect him.
“It wasn’t a hard decision to accept this fight because I’m coming off a loss and need a win to get to the belt. As soon as it was offered to me, I said ‘yes’.”
In what shapes as a huge card, co-main star Dustin Poirier also promised to upset Frenchman Benoit St Denis, stressing: “He’s gritty, it’s going to be a war.
“This guy has finished his past five opponents.
“I’m coming to finish him, he’s coming to do the same … it’s going to be crazy.”
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