Sean O’Malley left UFC 276 with a no-decision on his record, but he believes that’s only because Pedro Munhoz was desperate to get out of their fight.
The bantamweight matchup ended after an inadvertent eye poke from O’Malley left Munhoz unable to see, which forced the ringside physician to call a stop to the contest in the second round.
Following the fight, O’Malley gave his take on the way it was playing out, saying Munhoz knew he was losing and took the easy way out rather than continuing after the foul occurred.
“100 percent [he was looking for a way out],” O’Malley said at the post-fight press conference. “That’s what’s going on in my mind. It will be interesting to watch again. He was being made up. I didn’t get hit once. He entered the room and said that he would kick him in his legs to get him to stop. He tried kicking my legs and it damaged him more. I couldn’t be lifted against the fence by him. I was unable to get him down. That fight was my dominating one.
” I was initially shocked by it. We’d fight in 20 seconds, I believed. The fight would not be stopped, I thought. That fight was my dominance. I checked every one of his leg kicks. His shins were crackling. Every time he would throw a kick, I would check it and I could tell it would hurt him. I didn’t get hit one time. I was dominating that fight. I was piecing him up. It was time to find my range. It sucks.”
Munhoz concentrated on the leg kicks in the opening round with O’Malley largely playing defense – and not really unleashing much of his own striking arsenal. That started to change in the second round with O’Malley landing some hard shots in the exchanges, but he never dropped or staggered the Brazilian as they continued trading.
The end came as Munhoz was pressing forward looking to close the distance, and O’Malley extending his hand in a defensive maneuver with a finger then being jabbed into his opponent’s eye. The fight was declared no-decision because of the accidental eye poke.
Prior to the disappointing conclusion, Munhoz had won the first round on two scorecards. That only served to further infuriate O’Malley afterward.
“Have those judges kick me and I’ll check their kick and they’ll be like ‘OK, that hurt,'” O’Malley said. “That’s a strike for me. That hurt Pedro. Every time he would kick me and I checked it, that hurt him. They are completely ignorant for allowing him to claim that this is a score. Literally just stupid.
” It’s strange because it feels like I won, but not the emotions associated with winning a fight. It was a win. It’s unbelievable to me how the judges rated my performance. I literally didn’t get hit once. Are they looking? I didn’t get hit. That’s absurd. That makes zero sense.”
O’Malley also revealed what he said to Munhoz after the fight ended and also addressed the problem he’s faced with UFC gloves, a common complaint for numerous eye pokes in the past as well.
” I don’t know what the pain was from the poke,” O’Malley stated. It was so bad that it made me feel like I was fighting. I obviously didn’t mean to do that.
” We need to find a solution for the gloves. They almost force your hand open when worn. It’s not easy to form a fist. So if gloves could force you to do so, that would be a huge help. ‘I respect you, I’m sorry, that’s about it.'”
O’Malley said that he doesn’t think about going back to another training camp, or possibly running it with Munhoz. More than anything, he is convinced that Munhoz didn’t want to be in there with him any longer.
” I really believed that it was the best scenario for Pedro,” O’Malley stated. “I was piecing him up. I was way faster than him. I was way faster than him .”
