UFC 299 storylines -- Can Marlon Chito Vera beat Sean O'Malley again? - ESPN

«17-0.»

That was the tweet. Nothing more, just that one line. That one lie.

Sean O'Malley was not 17-0 when he posted on X last March about supposedly having an unblemished professional fighting record. At the time, he was actually 16-1 with a no contest. But hours after seeing the past opponent who was responsible for his «1» — Marlon «Chito» Vera — lose a UFC fight, «Suga Sean» felt inspired to jump on social media and rewrite history.

MMA, perhaps more than any other sport, is a game of delusion. Fighters are always trying to convince the world — and themselves — that they are invincible. Such sleight-of-hand self-trickery is understandable, given what this combative sport demands of its athletes, especially mentally. Imagine walking into a cage in front of a blood-thirsty arena crowd, hearing the steel door lock behind you and then looking across at a trained killer who can't wait to put their hands on you. Anyone in that situation might feel a need to talk themselves into the belief that they belong in there.

O'Malley certainly does belong. When he put out the «17-0» delusion a year ago, he was not yet the UFC men's bantamweight champion, but he was only months away from reaching that glorious destination. He won the belt in August with a second-round TKO of Aljamain Sterling, and he will defend it for the first time Saturday in the UFC 299 main event against none other than «Chito» Vera (ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET).

What a sport, right? MMA perpetually pulls us into a soap opera plotted out with «As the World Turns» melodrama. In this weekend's episode, «Suga Sean» looks to remain undefeated inside his own twisted headspace.

O'Malley has been playing these mind games ever since the 2020 TKO loss to Vera. Shortly after