Before Sean O’Malley fights Marlon Vera on the UFC 252 main card this weekend, fans can rewatch his violent, one-punch knockout win over Eddie Wineland.
Watch it below, via the UFC’s official YouTube channel.
https://youtu.be/_co4IREMngU
Following a six-month absence from the UFC due to a USADA suspension, O’Malley returned to the Octagon at UFC 248 earlier this year, where he clashed with José Alberto Quiñónez and earned a statement TKO win.
In his next fight, at UFC 250, O’Malley challenged the MMA veteran Eddie Wineland. For the first 90 seconds, both fighters failed to land a significant strike, but that all changed when O’Malley delivered a perfectly timed straight right hand to the jaw of Wineland. His opponent fell to the canvas and O’Malley claimed the KO victory in just under two minutes of the first round. He also deservingly sealed a performance of the night bonus.
After achieving the viral knockout, O’Malley walked off nonchalantly. He also predicted the thunderous finish before entering the clash.
“His hands are low, he’s a brawler, he’s not gonna come out and try to lay on me,” O’Malley said at the pre-fight media day. “The cage is small so he’s probably going to try and get started right away and be aggressive … whether he comes forward – heavy knockout – or if he lets me push him backwards, he’ll get knocked out. It works out perfectly.
Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera were originally expected to fight before the former was sidelined by USADA, but will now meet in the UFC 252 co-main event. This time around, O’Malley is predicting another first-round KO.
“Vera is tough and can take some shots,” O’Malley told BJPENN.com recently. “A lot of the fights I was watching, he was taking shots on the side of the head or the top, not the chin. I hit people right on the chin. So, yeah I see another first-round knockout. But, I’ll be ready for 15 minutes. I think this will be a sweet fight for me to get a lot of highlights. I think I will be able to bust him up for a little while.
“If it plays out the way I want it to, I’ll get an early knockout,” he added.