Ricky Simon

UFC books Sean O’Malley – Kris Moutinho

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Sean O'Malley

The Suga Show has a new opponent for UFC 264. MMA Junkie was the first to confirm this afternoon that Sean O’Malley (13-1) will be staying on the card next weekend and he will be taking on UFC newcomer Kris Moutinho (9-4).

This all comes together after O’Malley’s original opponent, Luis Smolka, had to pull out of UFC 264. Earlier today, it looked like there could be some momentum in talks to book O’Malley against Ricky Simon (18-3).

Simon voiced interest in fighting O’Malley and that appeared to be the fight that O’Malley wanted. Simon is riding a three-fight win streak and the UFC was interested in making it happen. However, Ariel Helwani reported that Simon couldn’t make 135 pounds on such short notice.

With that, the promotion shifted gears and looked at a number of replacements. Despite many UFC bantamweights volunteering for the fight, it’s a newcomer that is getting the call up to the biggest show and stage possible.

Moutinho’s UFC Debut

What a massive opportunity this is for the 28 year old Kris Moutinho. Obviously he will be a massive betting underdog, but he’s getting a shot at arguably the biggest UFC event of the year.

Moutinho is getting to come in and make his debut against the hype machine that is Suga Sean O’Malley. Not too mention the fact that he’s going to be kicking off a PPV card that is headlined by the biggest star in the sport, Conor McGregor.

Moutinho will make his UFC debut on the heels of back-to-back wins. The last time he fought was about a month ago at CFFC 96 where he picked up an arm-triangle choke win in the third round.

This is a massive step up in competition for Moutinho at UFC 264. To date, Moutinho has only been in the cage with one guy who has fought in the UFC. That was against current UFC fighter Tony Gravely back in 2019. Worth noting that Moutinho was stopped in that fight.

This appears like it’s going to be a showcase for Sean O’Malley next weekend. He might end up being the biggest betting favorite on the card which does make it a risky fight. However, I think it might be a quick night for The Suga Show at UFC 264.

UFC: Pedro Munhoz out of Frankie Edgar fight after positive COVID-19 test

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Pedro Munhoz, UFC

COVID-19 has taken down another UFC fight. UFC bantamweight contender, Pedro Munhoz (18-4, 1 NC), has been removed from his fight with Frankie Edgar (23-8-1) on July 15th after testing positive for COVID-19. Munhoz becomes the second fighter since Friday to have a fight scrapped due to COVID-19 after Gilbert Burns lost his title shot to the disease.

Next Steps for the UFC

At first, the plan was to scrap Edgar from the UFC‘s July 15th card and look to re-book his bantamweight debut. However, there have been a couple of bantamweights who are on Fight Island who have thrown their names into the ring as potential replacements for Munhoz.

The UFC is in a very fortunate spot to have two guys, who are fringe top-15 bantamweights, ready to step in for Munhoz. Marlon Vera (15-6-1) is coming off of a razor close decision loss to Yadong Song while Ricky Simon (16-3) is coming off of a win against Ray Borg back at UFC Fight Night 171.

Either man would make for a quality replacement for Munhoz. The fact is, Edgar needs a good test in his first fight at 135 pounds. Very and Simon would both give Edgar a really good fight in his bantamweight debut. Edgar has been putting in the work to get the pounds down, and he just signed a new deal ahead of the July 15th fight. I’m not sure who the UFC will go with, but I think we should get a resolution on this in the next day or so.