Well, despite dropping a UFC 252 opening round knockout loss to Marlon Vera last August, polarizing contender, Sean O’Malley has claimed that when he draws the faltering, Thomas Almeida at UFC 260 on March 27 — he’ll be putting his “undefeated record” on the line.
O’Malley, a product of Dana White‘s Contender Series made his second third Octagon appearance of 2020 against Ecuadorian finisher, Vera, in a matchup that had its fair share of tension prior to the opening klaxon.
Sticking on the outside and firing off some decent shots, particularly front kicks to the body and leg kicks O’Malley was caught with a left leg kick from Vera himself midway through the first round, immediately backing away before his right leg gave way beneath him, after an immediate stance switch to orthodox. Struggling to find his rhythm and utilise his in-and-out movement as a result, O’Malley fell to the canvas after an exchange at the fence, with Vera assuming full-guard, before landing a series of elbows — forcing the stoppage.
Ranked #14 in the official bantamweight pile at the time of his clash with Vera, the Montana native subsequently dropped his first professional loss, bringing an end to a twelve-fight undefeated streak, which included Octagon wins over former WEC bantamweight best, Eddie Wineland, Jose Alberto Quinonez, Andre Soukhamthath, and Terrion Ware.
Taking to his official Twitter account during UFC Vegas 21 on Saturday night, O’Malley looked ahead of his matchup with Brazilian striker, Almeida, detailing how in two week’s time, he’ll put his undefeated record up for grabs.
“2 f*ckin weeks till I put my undefeated record on the line,” O’Malley wrote.
O’Malley had also claimed after his matchup with Vera, how the Team Oyama mainstay had gotten “lucky” during their August co-main event clash, maintaining that he was still undefeated as a professional mixed martial artist.
Drawing one-time streaking contender, Almeida on the main card of UFC 260 — which features a doubleheader of title fights between Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega, as well as Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou — Almeida has dropped three consecutive losses, the most recent to Jonathan Martinez at UFC Fight Island 6 last October.