Top UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley defeated Thomas Almeida via TKO in round 3 in the main card of UFC 260 last weekend at the UFC’s Apex facility in Las Vegas.
Sean O’Malley was dominant throughout the fight. He kept Almeida at bay with his long jabs and crushing leg kicks. He landed some hard shots and did quite a bit of damage in the opening round.
In the first round, Sean O’Malley landed a right hand that dropped Thomas Almeida and he walked off after that. However, the referee didn’t stop the fight and Almeida was back on his feet. It was a grave mistake on O’Malley’s part has he should have gone for ground and pound and he could have earned a first-round stoppage.
Speaking on the Pat McAfee Show, Sean O’Malley said that he walked off after the knockdown because he wanted to sell merch.
“The real reason as to what happened, before the fight, I had undefeated shirts made up that said another right hand from Suga lands,” O’Malley said to Pat McAfee on his show. “I drop him in the first round but I dropped him with a left hand, I wasn’t walking away because I thought I got a walkoff knockout, I was walking away to let him back up so I could knock him out with the right hand and sell my shirts. Which are doing absolutely incredible right now.”
Sean O’Malley wants to go viral
Sean O’Malley further added that he wasn’t in any type of danger as insinuated by the commentators.
“I went and rewatched the fight and the commentators were saying it was the biggest mistake of my life and I’m just this young kid and I need to mature, I’m not smart enough in there. I’m thinking, I’ve been doing this for 10 years, I’m pretty mature as far as a professional fighter,” O’Malley said. “I’ve been striking for a long time and I didn’t feel in any danger in there.
“If I wanted to get on him and get a TKO finish, I could’ve jumped on him and did that in the first round. That’s not what I’m in there for, I’m in there to put people’s lights out and I want to go viral,” Sean O’Malley continued. “Like I said, I have 15 minutes in there, why end it in three minutes in the first round when I am still having fun in there, I just broke a sweat… I need to get in there and have some fun, you only get to fight a couple of times of a year.” (H/T – BJPenn.com)
Purchase the UFC merch here.
To bet on an MMA event click here.
SHARE
