UFC 250: Sean O’Malley sleeps Eddie Wineland with scary walk-off KO in first round
- ‘Sugar’ shows the hype is real with spectacular knockout of veteran former WEC bantamweight champion
- ‘I believe I have the best striking in MMA,’ declares the undefeated O’Malley – ‘I will continue to do this’
To paraphrase UFC president Dana White, if you don’t know then now you know when it comes to “Sugar” Sean O’Malley.
The 25-year-old bantamweight phenom said it would be the “Sugar Show 2.0” when he returned in March from a frustrating two-year Usada suspension for trace amounts of a prohibited substance. He wasn’t lying, getting an impressive first-round TKO of Jose Alberto Quinonez. He was even more devastating in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The Dana White’s Contender Series stand-out has clearly made major strides, moving to 12-0 overall and 4-0 in the UFC with a spectacular first-round walk-off KO of veteran Eddie Wineland in the UFC 250 main card opener at the company’s Apex facility.
“He’s so much cleaner now, he’s so much better,” analysts Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan agreed on the broadcast. The hype is for real.
This was a big step up in competition for O’Malley, against a former WEC bantamweight champion. But he said there was “absolutely nothing” different coming into it.
“I said it before and I’ll say it again, I think I have the best striking in MMA,” O’Malley told Rogan in a post-fight interview. “I know it sounds silly because I haven’t fought that many guys, but I will continue to do this throughout my career.