Jake is a Football and Entertainment betting expert, with a Man City season ticket and a deep knowledge of reality TV betting angles
- Odds are now given for 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley's first opponent as UFC Bantamweight Champion
- O'Malley himself has said that he wants the Marlon "Chito" Vera fight next
- Betting has grown in popularity around MMA fighting in recent years
Odds are now given for 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley's first opponent as UFC Bantamweight Champion
'Sugar' Sean O'Malley became the UFC Bantamweight Champion with a knockout win against Aljamain Sterling last month and now all eyes are on who he will fight in his first title defence.
O'Malley is one of the most popular fighters on the UFC's books with his fun fighting style tying in with his mad appearance, shown perfectly by his bright pink braided hair in his last fight.
Bookmakers have an open looking betting market on who O'Malley's next opponent will be with Marlon 'Chito' Vera the favourite at the top of the betting as a 6/4 shot.
The pair have fought before with Vera winning back in 2020 via TKO but the fight notably changed when O'Malley went over on his ankle meaning his movement was severely hindered.
| Sean O'Malley's Next Opponent
|
Odds | Probability |
|---|---|---|
| Marlon Vera | 6/4 | 40.0% |
| Merab Dvalishvili | 3/1 | 25.0% |
| Ajamain Sterling | 4/1 | 20.0% |
| Cory Sandhagen | 5/1 | 16.7% |
| Henry Cejudo | 8/1 | 11.1% |
What the expert says...
O'Malley himself has said that he wants the Marlon "Chito" Vera fight next
O'Malley has called out Marlon Vera for the rematch on Michael Bisping's 'Believe You Me' podcast earlier this month saying that he knows exactly what it is that he wants.
The Bantamweight champ told Bisping, "The only reason a Chito fight is such a big deal is just because of that controversial fight. So that's why that fight's big."
"I know what I want, I want the biggest fights. I wanna make a lot of money and I wanna do pay-per-views. So that kind of carries on to what I want next".
The betting odds suggest that there's a 40% chance that it's Vera who he fights next with Merab Dvalishvili next in line for the title in the rankings.
Betting has grown in popularity around MMA fighting in recent years
Betting on MMA and in particular the UFC has grown in the UK year-by-year with more and more bookmakers offering betting odds on bouts in the sport.
The rise of stars in the UK such as Tom Aspinall and Paddy 'The Baddy' Pimblett has made the casual fans of the sport come interested in betting on it too.
We've got a full insight to betting on the UFC with words on who the best bookmakers are for MMA betting too.
