Cory Sandhagen: Marlon Vera pretty much a punching bag, 'had no business being in the cage' with Sean O'Malley

Cory Sandhagen was pretty harsh on Marlon Vera after UFC 299.

Vera (21-9-1 MMA, 15-8 UFC) lost a lopsided unanimous decision to bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) on Saturday in the UFC 299 main event at Kaseya Center in Miami.

Considering Sandhagen beat Vera in decisive fashion last March, “Chito” wasn’t the expected title challenger – and Sandhagen thinks UFC 299 showed that.

“‘Chito’ obviously had no business being in the cage with O’Malley,” Sandhagen said on his YouTube channel. “Really tough showing by ‘Chito,’ awesome performance by O’Malley. Got to give the guy all the credit in the world.”

Sandhagen admits he expected a better performance from Vera, who was battered over the course of five rounds.

“That fight really frustrated me because, one, it was just unbelievably uncompetitive,” Sandhagen said. “Two, I feel like a dummy for thinking that ‘Chito’ was going to do better because almost literally what all of his fights look like unless he gets some type of knockout. Three, I think it’s not that cool that ‘Chito’ got that opportunity to begin with.”

Sandhagen praised O’Malley for his feints and fakes but also took a shot on Vera for his lack of defense.

“Good on O’Malley. Other than that, ‘Chito’ was pretty much just a punching bag,” Sandhagen said. “‘Chito’ doesn’t move like this (swings right and left) very well. He was just absolutely styling on him because ‘Chito’ one, isn’t that good. I hate to say it if you’re a ‘Chito’ fan, but he’s not that good… 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.”