Thomas Almeida

What’s next for Sean O’Malley after UFC 260?

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Sean O'Malley

This past Saturday at UFC 260, the Suga Show returned to the octagon. On the PPV main card, Sean O’Malley (13-1) took on Thomas Almeida (22-5) in a big matchup in the bantamweight division.

There is no questioning the fact that Sean O’Malley has star appeal. The young bantamweight contender has amassed a big following on social media and his fighting style/personality makes him a very polarizing figure.

O’Malley suffered his first career loss back at UFC 252 against Chito Vera (16-7-1). In that fight, O’Malley started very well, but ultimately, the calf kicks of Chito Vera cut down the young contender and Vera got the TKO win.

This was a huge fight for O’Malley because a loss would be detrimental to his appeal. Thomas Almeida at one point was looked at as a future UFC champion. He was once 21-1, however, a skid had him 1-3 in his last four leading to UFC 260.

Unfortunately for Almeida, the skid didn’t stop. Outside of landing some decent kicks, Almeida was completely dominated by O’Malley. O’Malley ended up scoring a massive third round KO to show the world that UFC 252 wasn’t the end of the Suga Show after all.

What’s next after UFC 260?

Prior to his loss to Vera, O’Malley had just entered the UFC’s top fifteen at bantamweight. With Vera in that fifteenth spot, I don’t expect to see O’Malley in the rankings when they get updated tomorrow.

However, I believe he needs to fight a ranked opponent in his next fight. There are a couple of options out there for the Suga Show. One fight I like is the winner of the upcoming Cody Stamann – Merab Dvalishvili fight. 

Whoever would win between that winner and O’Malley would shoot into the top ten of the division. However, there’s another intriguing matchup that Chael Sonnen mentioned on Saturday night.

That matchup would be against former UFC bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz (23-3). Cruz just got back on the winning track after a lengthy layoff at UFC 259. A matchup between the two would make a lot of sense for both.

For O’Malley, it would give him the chance to defeat a former UFC champion and arguably the greatest bantamweight of all time. For Dominick Cruz, he could make a statement to O’Malley’s following that he’s still here and he’s not going anywhere. Several compelling options for The Suga Show.

Sean O’Malley knocks Thomas Almeida out at UFC 260

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Sean O'Malley

The third fight on the UFC 260 main card was a bantamweight showdown between “Suga” Sean O’Malley (12-1) and Thomas Almeida (22-4). Both of these men were looking to get back on track after a loss in their last outing.

Back at UFC 252, Sean O’Malley saw his perfect record see it’s first blemish in a loss to Chito Vera. After a good start from O’Malley, Vera landed some beautiful calf kicks that deadened the leg of O’Malley.

After that, Vera followed up and got the TKO win. O’Malley has become a star with a huge following, but in order for his star to grow, he needed to get back on track with a win tonight.

Standing in his way was Thomas Almeida. Almeida was once considered the future of the UFC‘s bantamweight division. At one point, he was 21-1 and looked like he was closing in on a title shot.

However, that is where he ran into Cody Garbrandt. Garbrandt knocked him out in the first round and starting with that loss, Almeida is just 1-3 in his last four. UFC 260 was a massive opportunity for him to get back on track.

UFC 260 Recap

Round 1

The UFC 260 bantamweight contest opened with a touch of the gloves. O’Malley moves forward immediately and looks to land a 1-2. Almeida gets his striking going with a calf kick.

O’Malley keeps looking for the left hand throughout the first minute. Another calf kick lands for Almeida, but O’Malley counters with his own big leg kick. A big body kick lands for O’Malley.

A nasty spinning back kick to the body lands for O’Malley. Almeida pushes forward and lands a massive left hook, but O’Malley just ate it. Another big body kick lands for Sean O’Malley.

The kicks were working everywhere for The Suga Show in the first. A massive head kick lands and Almeida goes down. O’Malley walks away, but the fight wasn’t stopped. Almeida gets up and they keep fighting.

Another huge head kick lands for O’Malley, but Almeida took this one clean. Almeida pushes forward and lands a good right hand to close the round. Dominant opening round at UFC 260 for Sean O’Malley.

Round 2

Almeida seemed to have recovered to start the second round at UFC 260. O’Malley opens the striking with a straight left hand. Almeida was struggling with the distance and O’Malley catches him with a clean combination.

A good low kick lands for Almeida and it sits down O’Malley briefly. Another massive low kick lands for Almeida. A side kick to the leg lands for O’Malley and it briefly buckles the leg of Almeida.

A couple of clean left hands land for Sean O’Malley. 1-2 up the middle for O’Malley. Again, it appears that Thomas Almeida was struggling with the distance. Front kick to the body lands for Sean O’Malley.

One minute left in the round and O’Malley starts pushing forward. However, Almeida lands some massive leg kicks that backs him off. O’Malley slips on a flying knee attempt and the round ends. I think it’s 2-0 O’Malley at UFC 260.

Round 3

Heading into the final round at UFC 260 and I think Almeida needs the finish in this one. The two touch gloves and the action begins. A good front kick lands to start for O’Malley.

A huge low kick from O’Malley swings Almeida around. Almeida looks for an entry, but O’Malley lands another front kick to the leg which made him back off. O’Malley was just picking Almeida apart here in the first 90 seconds.

A huge 1-2 lands for Sean O’Malley. Almeida starts pressing forward with urgency, but couldn’t land anything. A couple of clean straight lefts land from O’Malley, but Almeida keeps pushing forward.

O’Malley just keeps popping him with clean shots, but Almeida keeps coming. A massive left hand lands from O’Malley and Almeida falls. O’Malley walks away again, but the referee doesn’t stop it. This time, O’Malley follows with a massive clean shot and Almeida is out cold.

Sean O’Malley def. Thomas Almeida by KO – Round 3

UFC 260 Preview: Sean O’Malley – Thomas Almeida

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Sean O'Malley

Tomorrow night on the UFC 260 main card, we will see a highly anticipated bantamweight matchup. One of the young stars in the sport, “Suga” Sean O’Malley (12-1), is making his return against Thomas Almeida (22-4).

The last time we saw The Suga Show as back at UFC 252. O’Malley took on Chito Vera in the co-main event. Early on in the fight, I was encouraged by what I saw out of O’Malley.

His speed and feints were giving Vera issues and it looked like we could be heading towards another O’Malley win. However, Vera started to land some nasty calf kicks and one completely deadened the leg of O’Malley.

O’Malley proceeded to roll his ankle a few times and Chito capitalized to get the TKO win. It was the first loss for O’Malley, but there’s still a lot of UFC hype behind him. Prior to that loss, O’Malley had two TKO wins in 2020 after a two year layoff.

O’Malley is going to be looking to get back on track against Thomas Almeida. A few years ago, many were looking at Thomas Almeida as a future UFC champion. Almeida was 21-1 heading into a matchup with Cody Garbrandt.

Garbrandt ended up starching Almeida on his run to becoming UFC champion. Since then, Almeida has gone just 1-3 inside the octagon. The last time we saw him was back in October where he dropped a decision to Jonathan Martinez.

UFC 260 Prediction

When it comes to the hype around Almeida from a few years ago, I’m not sure it was really warranted. He had an incredible record, but a lot of that was padded. When the competition level really turned up, we saw him falter in the UFC.

However, you could also question the competition level of O’Malley. Now, when it comes to their skillsets, I really like Sean O’Malley. He’s longer, he’s crisper on the feet and he has very good skills on the ground that we really haven’t seen.

For Almeida to be successful at UFC 260, he needs to go right after O’Malley’s legs. Attack the lead calf and take the Chito Vera strategy. If he can’t, I think he’s going to get picked apart.

In addition to losing, we’ve also seen Almeida’s chin look incredibly suspect. If O’Malley lands clean tomorrow night, I think it’s over. In the end, I think O’Malley is going to get back on track with a TKO win at UFC 260.

Prediction: “Suga” Sean O’Malley by TKO – Round 1

UFC books Sean O’Malley – Thomas Almeida

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Sean O'Malley

The Suga Show is back. The UFC has finalized a matchup between “Suga” Sean O’Malley (12-1) and Thomas Almeida (22-4). O’Malley announced the news on his YouTube page last night and said that the fight was booked for UFC 260 at the end of March.

While O’Malley has a huge following with a lot of hype, several years ago, Thomas Almeida was a prospect with ton of hype. In 2016, Thomas Almeida was 21-0 and he looked like he was going to be a force in the UFC‘s bantamweight division.

That’s when the promotion booked him against Cody Garbrandt. At the time, Garbrandt and Almeida entered the contest as unbeaten prospects. However, only one of them looked elite on the night that they fought.

Almeida was knocked out by Cody Garbrandt in the first round. Thomas Almeida did bounce back later in the year with a knockout of Albert Morales. However, that’s the last time he’s tasted victory inside the octagon.

We’ve only seen Almeida in the UFC three times since 2017 and he’s lost all three. He just returned back in October for the first time since January of 2018 and dropped a decision to Jonathan Martinez.

UFC’s Suga Show

As we were going through 2020, it appeared that the sky was the limit for the Suga Show. Sean O’Malley had two years off with some USADA issues, but returned with two vicious knockouts in the first half of the year.

Many were saying that he would be challenging for a UFC title at some point in 2021. However, that was all derailed when he took on Chito Vera back at UFC 252 in August. O’Malley looked very good when the fight started.

Vera was biting hard on feints, but halfway through the round, Vera started finding success. He ended up landing a calf kick that deadened the leg of O’Malley. O’Malley ended up rolling his ankle a number of times after.

Seeing the wounded O’Malley in front of him, Chito went in for the kill and got the stoppage. In all honesty, if O’Malley was going to lose, it was the most ideal situation. He didn’t get outclassed or dominated so his brand really didn’t suffer.

Now, we will see his return at UFC 260. This fight is so interesting because Almeida needs to win to keep his spot in the UFC while O’Malley needs to win to regain some steam. It’s honestly a must-win fight for both of these bantamweights in March.