Sean O'Malley

O'Malley patiently picked Zahabi apart through a first round in which the Canadian circled and threw leg kicks. Late in Round 2 he dropped Zahabi with a straight left, then floored him again with a right as he rose, prompting referee Jason Herzog's stoppage.

Key moments

• Round 1: Zahabi circled away behind leg kicks while O'Malley used range and counters.
• Late in Round 2 a thudding straight left dropped Zahabi.
• Seconds later O'Malley cracked him with a clean right to drop him again, forcing the stoppage at 4:02.

He took the first, lost the middle of the fight to Song's low kicks and pressure, then closed strong in the third with sharp jabs, a clean right hand and a well-timed knee to get back in the win column.

Key moments

• First fight since the second Dvalishvili loss; first win in over a year
• Song built a lead with leg kicks through the second round
• O'Malley bloodied Song's nose and surged late in the third to bank the round
• Scores were 29-28, 29-28, 29-28; O'Malley called out champion Petr Yan afterward

In the rematch for the bantamweight title, Dvalishvili dominated with wrestling and volume before finishing late in the third round.

Key moments

• Dvalishvili's takedown pressure neutralized O'Malley's striking
• Submission finish at 4:42 of round three to retain the belt
• O'Malley's second straight loss to Dvalishvili

O'Malley lost the UFC bantamweight title in his second defense, outworked over five rounds by Dvalishvili's relentless wrestling and pace at the Sphere in Las Vegas. O'Malley later revealed he had fought with a torn labrum. All three judges scored it for Dvalishvili.

Key moments

• Dvalishvili's volume and takedowns controlled the fight
• O'Malley's first loss as champion; he relinquished the title
• O'Malley disclosed a pre-fight torn labrum
• Unanimous decision sets up the 2025 rematch

He landed 230 significant strikes — among the most ever in a UFC title fight — behind crisp combinations and footwork, hurting Vera with a knee in the second.

Key moments

• Landed 230 significant strikes to Vera's 89
• Right knee up the middle hurt and cut Vera in round two
• First successful defense of the bantamweight title

O'Malley won the UFC bantamweight title by stopping long-reigning champion Aljamain Sterling early in the second round. A counter right hand dropped Sterling and O'Malley followed up for the finish at 0:51 of round two in Boston.

Key moments

• Captured the UFC Bantamweight Championship
• Ended Sterling's reign with a clean counter right hand
• TKO finish 51 seconds into round two
• Validated O'Malley as a legitimate divisional force

O'Malley opened the PPV card with a clinical first-round stoppage of Raulian Paiva, rocking him with a right hand, swarming him against the fence, dropping him with another right, then finishing him with a left after Paiva regained his feet. The TKO came at 4:42 of round one despite O'Malley reportedly dealing with a rib injury that had prevented sparring and grappling in the weeks prior.

Key moments

• O'Malley revealed after the fight he had fought through a rib injury that kept him from sparring for three weeks.
• Rocked Paiva with a right hand and swarmed him against the fence.
• A second right hand dropped Paiva; a follow-up left finished the fight at 4:42 of round one.
• Paiva had leaned on leg kicks hoping to exploit O'Malley's history with leg injuries.

In one of the most entertaining bantamweight bouts of 2021, O'Malley battered a rock-chinned Kris Moutinho for three rounds, landing enormous volumes of head strikes, body shots, and leg kicks. Moutinho — a late replacement who had under two weeks to prepare — absorbed tremendous punishment without going down and kept pressing forward, but referee Herb Dean waved the fight off with 27 seconds left in the final round. Both fighters earned Fight of the Night bonuses.

Key moments

• Moutinho stepped in on less than two weeks' notice to replace the injured Louis Smolka.
• O'Malley landed heavy volume across all three rounds but Moutinho's durability kept him in the fight.
• The late-third-round TKO by Herb Dean drew boos from the T-Mobile Arena crowd and debate among pundits.
• Both fighters were awarded Fight of the Night bonuses worth $75,000 each.

O'Malley put on a two-round striking clinic before finishing Thomas Almeida with punches late in the third at the UFC Apex. He hurt Almeida with a head kick and a left hand in round one — the referee allowed it to continue — then controlled the following rounds before leaping in with a finishing right hand at 3:52 of round three.

Key moments

• Almeida ate a violent head kick and a left hand late in round one but survived the round.
• O'Malley controlled the fight with range and combinations through rounds two and three.
• A leaping right hand finished Almeida at 3:52 of round three.
• The bounce-back win was O'Malley's first since his 2020 TKO loss to Marlon Vera.

O'Malley delivered one of the most impressive walk-off knockouts of 2020, dropping veteran Eddie Wineland with a single overhand right — feinting with an uppercut to set it up — then walking away as Wineland lay snoring on the canvas at 1:54 of round one.

Key moments

• O'Malley feinted with an uppercut before uncorking the overhand right that put Wineland to sleep.
• Wineland was literally snoring on the canvas when O'Malley walked away without a follow-up — one of the cleanest walk-off KOs in recent UFC history.
• The finish came at 1:54 of round one.

O'Malley returned from a two-year hiatus — caused by a USADA violation stemming from a contaminated supplement — with a statement performance, finishing José Alberto Quiñónez in under two minutes. He dropped Quiñónez with a body kick within the first ten seconds, then landed an uppercut followed by a crushing head kick and ground-and-pound to force the stoppage at 2:02 of round one, earning a Performance of the Night bonus.

Key moments

• First fight back after a two-year layoff following a USADA contaminated-supplement suspension.
• Dropped Quiñónez with a front kick to the body within the opening ten seconds.
• A head kick followed by ground-and-pound finished the fight at 2:02 of round one.
• Earned Performance of the Night bonus; O'Malley described the head kick as 'like hitting him with a baseball bat.'

O'Malley passed a gritty test in his second UFC fight, winning a unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28) over Andre Soukhamthath despite suffering a foot injury in the opening round that left him unable to stand by the end of the fight. He defended effectively off his back in the later rounds as Soukhamthath tried to exploit the injury with wrestling, but O'Malley's early striking output proved decisive on the cards.

Key moments

• O'Malley's foot went numb after a kick in round one, leaving him unable to bear weight for much of the fight.
• Soukhamthath chose wrestling to attack the injured leg but O'Malley defended off his back.
• Judges scored it 29-27, 29-27, 29-28 for O'Malley — his striking in the early rounds made the difference.

O'Malley made his official UFC debut in the co-main event of TUF 26 Finale in Las Vegas, winning a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Terrion Ware. He showcased his volume striking game — landing 141 significant strikes at 55% accuracy versus Ware's 88 — and added three takedowns in the third round for good measure.

Key moments

• Official UFC debut, in the co-main event at Park Theater in Las Vegas on FS1.
• Outworked Ware 141-88 in significant strikes at 55% accuracy versus Ware's 30%.
• Added three takedowns in the third round to close out the fight convincingly.
• All three judges scored it 29-28 for O'Malley; the win set up the UFC 222 booking against Soukhamthath.

O'Malley's audition for the UFC on Dana White's Contender Series was a first-round knockout of Alfred Khashakyan that left Dana White and the room stunned.

Key moments

• Competed on Episode 2 of Season 1 of Dana White's Contender Series.
• Knocked Khashakyan out with punches at 4:14 of round one.
• The finish went viral and established O'Malley as one of the most anticipated UFC prospects of the era.

O'Malley scored a first-round KO over Irvin Veloz at Extreme Beatdown 20 in North Dakota, stopping him with punches at 2:34 of round one.

Key moments

• Fought at 4 Bears Casino and Lodge in New Town, North Dakota.
• KO finish with punches at 2:34 of round one.
• Part of a string of 2017 finishes — Veloz in March, Nuzzo in May, Khashakyan in July — that propelled him into the UFC.

O'Malley collected his first professional finish, stopping Shane Sargent by punch KO at 2:03 of round one at Intense CF 19 on the Arizona regional circuit. Coming just four months after his professional debut, the quick KO reinforced his reputation as a puncher from his earliest fights.

Key moments

• First professional knockout, at 2:03 of round one.
• Fought at Intense Championship Fighting in Arizona.
• Second fight as a professional — won his first two by finish (debut TKO, this KO) before going to decision in his third.