Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight standout, Sean O’Malley, was out to secure another highlight-reel victory tonight (March 27, 2021) at the expense of Thomas Almeida — who has dropped four of his last five bouts — on the pay-per-view (PPV) main card of UFC 260, which took place inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
O’Malley — who claims he is still undefeated despite a technical knockout loss in his last outing — was on the fast track to super stardom little more than a six months ago. And he’s back on the rails thanks to a late third round knockout that should have happened 10 minutes earlier.
O’Malley set the pace early, throwing some low kicks and looking to back Almeida into a corner. Almeida responded with a low kick of his own, going to the well early to test his questionable durability. O’Malley scored with a kick to the body, then a spinning back kick as Almeida rushed in like a bull looking to get on the board. O’Malley switching stance, throws a kick that is caught as the two get pressed into the fence. Front kick from O’Malley, while Almeida scores with a low kick. O’Malley dropped him with a hard kick upstairs, then another as Almeida crumpled to the canvas. It looked like Almeida was done and O’Malley walked away, but he wasn’t — Almeida got back to his feet and the fight resumed. O’Malley missed with a spinning head kick and Almeida appears to be back to normal somehow. Front kick from O’Malley scores again, buckling the legs of the Brazilian once again. First round came to a close and O’Malley has to be kicking himself in the peroneal nerve for letting Almeida off the hook.
O’Malley opens up the second stanza pumping a jab then mixes in the front kick once again. Almeida reaching for a body shot, with O’Malley countering with a solid low kick. Low kick from Almeida knocks O’Malley off his feet briefly then he landed another one shortly thereafter. O’Malley doubling up on some side kicks to the knee of Almeida, then connects with a hard straight left. More low kicks from Almeida and O’Malley responds in kind. Almeida just missed with a big right hook as Almeida continues to try and work the lower half of “Suga.” He hit the canvas toward the end of the round and Almeida made him pay with some hard kicks to the legs until the bell.
Likely down two rounds, Almeida likely needed a finish to come out on top. Front kick from O’Malley to start the final frame then a low kick that nearly takes Almeida off his feet. O’Malley started to showboat a little in the corner, but Almeida didn’t take the bait. O’Malley looking to score from the outside, likely realizing he is up on the scorecards. Almeida head hunting for the finish, but O’Malley is nowhere to be found. O’Malley with more low kicks as Almeida misses wildly upstairs. Straight right hand from O’Malley, but Almeida continues to push the pace. In the waning seconds of the fight, O’Malley dropped Almeida and began to walkoff again … but this time he returned to finish the job. With Almeida flat on his back after a knockdown, he drilled the Brazilian with a big right hand that put him out.
Better late than never I suppose … welcome (back) to the “Suga” show, fight fans.
MMAmania.com is delivering LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 260 PPV main card RIGHT HERE, right now.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 260: “Miocic vs. Ngannou 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.