Sandhagen blasts Vera's performance vs. O'Malley: 'He's not that good'

UFC bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen sounded off on Marlon "Chito" Vera's performance in his UFC 299 title bid against Sean O'Malley.

"'Chito' obviously had no business being in the cage with O'Malley," Sandhagen said in a video on his YouTube channel published Tuesday. "Really tough showing by 'Chito.' Awesome performance by O'Malley. Gotta give the guy all the credit in the world, although he was fighting a homeless-looking 'Chito.'"

O'Malley dominated Vera in his first 135-pound title defense last weekend in Miami, winning by unanimous decision and producing the fourth-largest strike differential in a UFC title bout.

Sandhagen said he expected the fight to more competitive than it was.

"That fight really frustrated me because it was, one, just unbelievably uncompetitive; two, I feel like a dummy for thinking that 'Chito' was gonna do better," Sandhagen said. "Because that's almost literally what all of his fights look like unless he gets some type of knockout. And three, I just think that it's not that cool that 'Chito' even got that opportunity to begin with.

"Because like I said, that's what we all should've seen coming. I don't know why I bought into the 'Chito' hype. That was really stupid of me."

Sandhagen has a right to be annoyed by Vera getting a title shot in the first place. Sandhagen, ranked No. 3 in the division and riding a three-fight winning streak, is less than a year removed from his own lopsided decision victory over Vera.

Sandhagen said he believes O'Malley's win proved that Vera isn't an elite bantamweight.

"(O'Malley) was just absolutely styling on him because 'Chito,' one, isn't that good," Sandhagen said. "Hate to say it if you're a 'Chito' fan, but he's not that good. That sounded really mean, but it's kind of true. ... He's not that good as far as being in the top, top contenders. Other than that, maybe he'll do good, maybe he won't."