Sean O'Malley didn't show "any ability to figure out" Pedro Munhoz in first round of UFC 276 fight, says Teddy Atlas
Sean O'Malley's first fight against a ranked bantamweight took place at UFC 276, but the bout left fans with more questions than answers after being declared a No Contest halfway through the second round.
Pedro Munhoz came into Las Vegas ranked No.9 in the official UFC rankings. He's faced many of the top bantamweights in the division, so this fight was going to be a useful meter stick to determine how O'Malley stacked up as a potential 135 pound contender. Unfortunately, the fight was waved off over an unintentional eye poke in the second round.
On the latest episode of The Fight with Teddy Atlas, Atlas suggested things weren't looking great for O'Malley after the first round. He said:
"It's only a three round fight, and the star, the guy who's supposed to win here, the guy who's being showcased, right? O'Malley, he's in danger a little bit. Because you're down one round in a three round fight. Hey, you gotta get going. And he didn't show, really, any ability to figure out Munhoz in the first round. So I was interested to see 'Is he figuring him out now? Is he gonna figure him out?'"
Munhoz vs. O'Malley ruled a no contest after an unintentional eye poke. #UFC276 https://t.co/Mfda0tF640
Atlas also added by saying:
"Is he going to be forced to take more risk now?' Being that he's behind or potentially behind one round to nothing and there's only three rounds. There started to be some drama even there for me, in a fight that hadn't shown any drama yet."
Watch Teddy Atlas break down Sean O'Malley vs. Pedro Munhoz below:
Pedro Munhoz's medical documents disprove Sean O'Malley's claim that a legal punch caused eye injury
Sean O'Malley has been known to dismiss fight results he doesn't agree with in the past, and he's at it again with his latest claim about the Pedro Munhoz fight.
On Twitter, O'Malley posted up a YouTube video that suggests the damage to Munhoz's left eye was caused by a legal punch in the first round. O'Malley went on to accidentally poke Munhoz in the right eye during the second round, but the video claims 'The Young Punisher' was reacting to the damage to the left eye.
According to Pedro Munhoz's medical records, that's not the case. Munhoz shared the paperwork from his trip to the hospital which clearly states he suffered an abrasion to the cornea in his right eye. That's the eye that was poked in the second round, not the eye Sean O'Malley hit with a punch in the first.