Marlon Vera TKO's injured Sean O'Malley in Round 1

Marlon Vera inside the octagon following his UFC 252 win over Sean O'Malley.

UFC 252 Co-Main Event Recap: Marlon Vera TKO’s injured Sean O’Malley in Round 1

UFC 252 takes place inside the UFC APEX tonight, Saturday, Aug. 15. Current heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and former two-division champion Daniel Cormier settle the score in the main event.

Rising Star Sean O’Malley puts his perfect record to the test against fellow bantamweight Marlon Vera in the night’s co-main event.

O’Malley looks to remain perfect as he takes on Marlon Vera in the co-main event. Vera is coming off a loss he believes he won and hopes to improve to 16-5-1 with a win over the brash bantamweight, O’Malley.

This fight I see going all three rounds as the two battle until the final horn. O’Malley, standing three inches taller than Vera at 5’11” and two-inch reach advantage.

Official MyMMANews.com fight coverage round-by-round.

Round 1

Sean O’Malley enters the cage with Harley Quinn looking colors braided in cornrows. O’Malley looked Vera down as he circled the octagon. Both fighters meet in the middle and don’t touch gloves. Exchanging kicks early. O’Malley faking and switching stances, as they both continue to throw kicks. Sean throws to heavy low kicks. and a solid body kicks after going into an orthodox stance as Joe Rogan said. O’Malley like tripped or faked a trip but vera doesn’t budge. Vera controlling the center of the cage. Both fighters are still feeling each other out with limited kicks. O’Malley may have injured his leg. The way it’s giving out, looks like a possible ACL injury. Vera throwing more kicks but not being too aggressive. Chico taking his time and pressuring O’Malley. After an O’Malley attack, Vera jumped on him landing massive elbows forcing Herb Dean to call an end to the fight.

Official decision Marlon Vera def. Sean O’Malley via TKO in Round 1, at 4:40.

After watching the replay, it looks like O’Malley hurt his ankle with a nasty twist. Vera ends the winning streak for O’Malley and got back on the winning path with this TKO win. O’Malley looked hurt through most of the fight. Fight fans can expect a rematch. between these two. Vera didn’t rush in and waited patiently to finish off Sean O’Malley.

Can that disinfectant spray between fights be a cause of the ankle twist of Sean O’Malley?? Answers we will seek.

“I’m a motivated man,” Marlon Vera said. He looks to keep climbing that ladder. Vera mentions he made an adjustment and checked a kick which could have played the role in O’Malley’s injury.

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Kyle Carroll
Kyle Carroll is a Long Island, N.Y. native and avid MMA and amateur wrestling fan. He has been a part of the wrestling community for nearly 20 years. Carroll has six years of experience coaching high school wrestling. His father coached high school wrestling over 35 years, passing on his strong knowledge. Carroll has been reporting MMA news since January 2011. The former wrestler’s coverage includes the 2012 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials, 2013 & 2016 NCAA D1 Wrestling Championship, and numerous MMA events (Bellator MMA, King of the Cage, North American Fighting Championship, and Glory).