Pedro Munhoz says Sean O’Malley needs to accept the fact he lost to Marlon Vera.
Pedro Munhoz isn’t a fan of the way Sean O’Malley carries himself in the media.
Munhoz thinks it’s ridiculous that O’Malley acts as if he’s undefeated despite losing to Marlon Vera in 2020 and thinks ‘Suga’ needs to come to terms with the fact that he lost.
O’Malley doesn’t want to acknowledge the loss because of how the fight unfolded. The No. 13-ranked bantamweight suffered a leg injury moments before the TKO stoppage and claims he would have beaten ‘Chito’ had it not been for the injury.
Munhoz thinks this is a very childish and immature outlook for an aspiring UFC champion and believes modern-day rap culture may be the culprit.
“He’s from this new generation that is influenced by rappers on social media,” Munhoz told MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz on a recent episode of the Trocação Franca podcast. “So I believe this image of being undefeated is something that defines him as a person and an athlete, but it’s ridiculous. I’m telling you, I think that’s ridiculous. If you’re injured or not, if the fight was stopped or not, you lost, buddy.”
Criticism aside, Munhoz respects O’Malley as a fighter and holds no animosity toward him heading into UFC 276.
“I’ve spent time with many guys that do this trash talk, and they do that as a way to promote themselves, but also as a form of insecurity. They have to talk to believe,” Munhoz said. “But I don’t have anything against him. The times we were next to each other, he was never disrespectful. This is going to be my 19th fight in the organization and I think that every time I’m focusing on my process and daily training, I’m moving closer to my peak performance on fight night.”
UFC 276, which features Munhoz vs. O’Malley as the first fight to kick off the main card, takes place this Saturday, July 2 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.