"He made sure he said that multiple times" - Sean O'Malley feels Pedro Munhoz convinced the doctor into believing that he couldn't see so that the fight would be stopped
Sean O'Malley believes Pedro Munhoz exaggerated the eye injury that stopped their bout at UFC 276. Munhoz released medical records showing an abrasion of the right cornea, but 'Sugar' thinks it was a punch that caused it.
O'Malley continues to drive the narrative that Munhoz wanted out of the fight and faked the eye injury. During an interview with ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto, 'Sugar' updated his viewpoint on the no-contest by saying:
"I landed a good couple of right hands. One right hand hit him right in the eye, and he thought that one was a poke. Swole his eye up, landed a couple body shots, some nice teeps. One he pretended hit him in the nuts, which didn't."
O'Malley insisted that the eye poke was not bad enough for the fight to be stopped:
"The eye poke. I mean, you watch the replay. Might have hit him a little bit, not enough to stop a fight. He made sure that eye doctor, he made sure he said, 'I can't see. I can't see.' He made sure he said that multiple times 'cause he knew the fight would be stopped."
The fight ended in the second round, with two of the three official scorecards giving Munhoz the first round. O'Malley took no damage at UFC 276 and quickly flipped the script with a blockbuster matchup against Petr Yan at UFC 280.
Watch Sean O'Malley's interview with Brett Okamoto below:
Sean O'Malley thinks he mentally broke Pedro Munhoz
Sean O'Malley doesn't credit the physical damage for Pedro Munhoz allegedly wanting out of their fight. Instead, 'Sugar' believes he broke the Brazilian mentally. During the same interview, the 27-year-old Montana native had this to say:
"Jared Cannonier took an eye poke later that night that was way worse than that, and he made sure he could keep fighting. So, I think mentally I just broke him."
O'Malley must now move on and focus on his next opponent. Yan is the No.1-ranked bantamweight and offers 'Sugar' a massive opportunity. With a win at UFC 280, the Dana White's Contender Series alum could find himself in the title shot conversation.