O’Malley said the new ‘do is for his Ecuadorian fans, and Vera more or less shrugged it off when asked about it at media day.
“I didn’t think it would really bother him,” O’Malley said. “If me changing my hair color got in his head, that might be too easy of a fight. I don’t think it’s going to bother him. I’m not doing it to get into his head. It’s just for fun. The fans love it. The media, it’s something to talk about. Last time I did my hair, the whole fight week was about my hair, so it’s something to talk about, and it’s just showing some love.”
For as much fun as O’Malley is having in the buildup to this fight, and for as clear as he has made his intentions to climb the ladder – just ask Cody Garbrandt – O’Malley isn’t looking past the foe waiting for him on August 15. Although O’Malley does believe he’ll have his pick of the bunch should he go out and “starch” Vera, he understand how the fight game works and how the action in the Octagon often determines a timeline.
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“I gotta go out there and do what I do Saturday night,” O’Malley said. “First-round knockout (with) no injuries? Yeah, there’s a potential for quick turnaround, but we’ll see. There’s just so much that can happen during a fight that it’s hard to predict what’s next.”
What isn’t as difficult to predict is that O’Malley is going to have all eyes on him on Saturday night, and while he wishes there were fans in the arena, there isn’t really any other place he’d rather be than locked in an Octagon against someone who is more than willing to throw down.
