UFC 248 fighter to watch: Sean O’Malley
Flashback to UFC 222 in March 2018 and we witnessed a display of heart and determination from Sean O’Malley. Andre Soukhamthath was across the cage for O’Malley’s second UFC fight and the fight did not disappoint. The bantamweight bout was part of the main card of the UFC 222 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.
In the third round, O’Malley was visibly in pain and was unable to put any pressure on his right foot. For some reason, Soukhamthath took the fight to the ground which aided the inured O’Malley. After the fight, it looked like O’Malley likely had a broken foot, so had Soukhamthath made him stay on the feet, he may have ended up with a TKO victory.
2 years on and after back to back 6 month suspensions by USADA because of Ostarine and Sean is finally back where he belongs. He is facing Jose Quiñónez (8-3) as the final prelim before we move over to ESPN+ for the PPV part of the card. O’Malley comes in with 56% striking accuracy, he typically lands about 6.75 significant strikes every minute. ‘Suga’ also has a 50% takedown accuracy and on average gets around 1.31 takedowns every 15 minutes.
After such a lengthy absence, O’Malley will aim to make up for lost time and the hype around him has returned this weekend with everyone excited to see The ‘Suga’ Show back in full effect. He needs to take control of the octagon early and put the pressure on Quiñónez to make sure his prediction of a first round finish will come to fruition. Although Sean has yet to live up to his potential as shown most notably on the Contender Series with his first round knockout, a sense of expectancy is in the air as he looks to make a statement on such a big card.
Follow me on twitter: @ReeceManUFC
Follow the team on twitter: @MMALatestNws
