O'Malley vs Vera, what's your prediction and breakdown?

[Shay Brennan]

I rewatched the first fight.
It was pretty competitive before the shot that hurt Sean's leg.

Now, going into the rematch, I'm sure of a few things:
Sean can't finish Vera, he's got the best chin in the division. Sean also can't submit him. So, his only path to victory is by a decision.
His only path to victory is with his boxing. But that might just be enough though, considering that and his reach and height advantage.

Vera also has very good kicks, and Sean ate like 30 leg kicks from Pedro in one round. That was only a few fights ago.
Sean's chin isn't as good as Vera's. That was shown in the Petr fight where he was wobbled multiple times, and would've been knocked down if he wasn't holding on Petr.

If Sean is to win this fight, he will have to win the first three rounds. That should't be too hard considering Vera starts fighting for real pretty late, giving up those early rounds.
I'll be rooting for O'Malley, but think it could go either way.

 

[MaulingMyClown]

Vera by KO in the 3rd/4th

 

[IronGolem007]

O'Malley by surprise KO.

O'Malley has matured-out, and is in his prime, while Chito Vera slipping away from his prime.

In their first fight, Vera got a fortuitous leg injury against a young boy. I don't think he's going to have the same "lightning in a bottle" moment.

Rather, I believe a slow, plodding Vera is going to get beaten to the punch every time — eat punch-after-punch — to either a ref stoppage or KO stoppage.

O'Malley is huge for the weight, and has been looking really good lately. Vera, not so much.

 

[jitzmonkey]

Good analysis

It seems that the key for Vera is to lean heavy on the calf kicks early with the intention of getting O'Malley to eventually overreact in one way or another then capitalize on that mistake.

Since O'Malley's so tall and skinny I'd guess that starting low then working the body then once O'Malley overcommits/flinches on defense Vera will get free head shots.

Problem is that he has to do all of this over 25 minutes against a top of his game O'Malley.

 

[jeskola]

Sean literally let a snitch tattoo the snitch's own name on him, so he sucks. Vera already beat him once and the second fight will probably be a replay of the first fight. Vera by leg kicks.

 

[LindyBrah]

Sean literally let a snitch tattoo the snitch's own name on him, so he sucks. Vera already beat him once and the second fight will probably be a replay of the first fight. Vera by leg kicks.

Sean checked all of Pedro’s kicks, and Munhoz is a far more devastating leg kicker. It'll likely be a replay of how Chito did against Sandhagen but will take more damage.

 

[BoxingFan653]

This is super hard to predict...fan of Chito more than Sean and I definitely think Chito won the first fight and never saw it as a 'freak injury' I do think its 60-40 in Sean's favor. I think he has elevated his game while Chito has lost since. If I had to pick it would be Sean but Chito is a tough stylistic match up for him

 

[Kono dio da!]

Chito will take him. I just don't see Sean knocking him out to be honest.

 

[DjolexMTL]

Sean literally let a snitch tattoo the snitch's own name on him, so he sucks.

Thanks for the technical analysis

 

[jeff7b9]

I think Omalley does well early and Chito takes a beating, but maybe his durability proves problematic and he turns the tide.

Not sure if Chito can flip the script early enough.

 

[Uber_Noober]

 

[Dandy Chiggins]

Repeat of first fight except this time O'Malley doesn't quit because he got hit on a nerve.

 

[World eater]

Vera’s “diesel engine” approach usually costs him a round, sometimes two. While him winning would be welcomed by most of Sherdog, I think O’malley wins by ko by the end of round 3, if not sooner.

 

[HuskySamoan]

I rewatched the first fight.
It was pretty competitive before the shot that hurt Sean's leg.

Now, going into the rematch, I'm sure of a few things:
Sean can't finish Vera, he's got the best chin in the division. Sean also can't submit him. So, his only path to victory is by a decision.
His only path to victory is with his boxing. But that might just be enough though, considering that and his reach and height advantage.

Vera also has very good kicks, and Sean ate like 30 leg kicks from Pedro in one round. That was only a few fights ago.
Sean's chin isn't as good as Vera's. That was shown in the Petr fight where he was wobbled multiple times, and would've been knocked down if he wasn't holding on Petr.

If Sean is to win this fight, he will have to win the first three rounds. That should't be too hard considering Vera starts fighting for real pretty late, giving up those early rounds.
I'll be rooting for O'Malley, but think it could go either way.

My breakdown is that this fight is for the uneducated MMA fans. Chito isn't a top 10 Bantamweight, can't wrestle or grapple to save his life, many would expose him. Beyond that standing he's very flawed the limited output and reliant on landing power shots makes it really sketchy for him to win decisions or vs more mobile fighters. He matches up pretty well with O'Malley and they have history but this is boxing level matchmaking, he isn't legit as a contender and there's many better guys than him in the UFC two of which in the top 10 already beat him in Yadong and Sandhagen.

My prediction is so long as O'Malley is able to stay mobile he should outclass Chito, but he needs to know how to get in and out of kicking range, check effectively and time the kicks with crisp counters. He's the quicker, younger, more mobile striker with much better shot selection but Vera's style of forcing him to attack first may lead to some amount of starring contests because Omalley likes to take what is given to him as well, it's why he had uneventful fights vs a guy like Munhoz he was supposed to clown. Vera needs to 1. Cut O'Malley off with a heavy kick attack approach, pressure forward responsibly while being reserved with actually letting his hands go not to play into Omalleys gameplan and if he can pick his shots well and cut Omalley off he's got a real solid shot.


I think Omalley probably wins a decision and some rounds will be crickets bad.

 

[Mr. Shickadance]

I want chito to win, but he just waits too much Sean will jab and slip to a UD I believe. I hope I’m wrong though

 

[The_Renaissance]

Have a feeling O'Malley TKOs him and earlier than some might expect.

 

[Fatback96]

Depends on if Vera decides to actually throw any strikes this fight. I’m a Vera fan and I admit he can be frustrating to watch sometimes.

 

[Bradillac]

Sean continues to improve. He's going to dominate.

 

[flektarn]

Chito has looked extremely limited recently. Going to be a one sided beating.

 

[Fergelmince]

Hopefully more of this