Oh boy, Tim Welch, he’s laying it out there, isn’t he? He’s taking a hefty slice of the blame pie for Sean O’Malley’s stumble against Marlon Vera. But, get this, it’s not all on him. Those ankle wraps? Yeah, they’re in the naughty corner too.
Now, picture this: O’Malley, with his leg practically saying “nope” after Vera’s kick in 2020. “Sugar” himself? He’s not having any of it, calling the whole thing a stroke of bad luck. That kick? Just a fluke, he says, messing with his peroneal nerve.
But Welch, the man behind the scenes, he’s got another take. He spills the beans that right before the showdown, O’Malley’s fussing about his ankle wraps. Too tight, he says. Not once, but twice. They tried to tweak them, sure, but Welch thinks they were still squeezing the life out of O’Malley’s leg.
“I gotta own up to it,” Welch confesses on his YouTube channel. He’s kicking himself because, despite O’Malley’s complaints, they didn’t redo the wraps completely. With the fight ticking closer, they felt the pressure. In hindsight, Welch wishes he’d paused everything to fix that wrap. Imagine, he says, trying to throw punches when your foot’s snoozing.
Fast forward, and O’Malley’s sitting pretty with the bantamweight title after toppling Aljamain Sterling. But guess what? He’s eyeing a rematch with Vera, title and all, at UFC 299 in Miami. Some folks are raising eyebrows, but O’Malley’s game.
Welch is buzzing about the rematch. He’s like, “This ain’t the same kid from four years ago.” According to him, O’Malley’s packed on muscle, explosiveness, and knows how to keep his energy in check. “Sugar’s” confidence? Through the roof. They’re itching for round two, ready to flip the script.