Sean O’Malley may have been robbed of a victory at UFC 276.
An alleged eye poke called a stop to his bout opposite Pedro Munhoz part-way through round two. The fight was ruled a no-contest after Munhoz told the ringside physician he had no vision in his left eye.
YouTuber ‘The MMA Guru’ today uploaded a breakdown of the sequence of events that led to the stoppage. He offers a convincing argument that a punch is what damaged Munoz’s eye, with video evidence supporting the claim.
Does this prove that Munhoz was ‘looking for a way out’ as many fans, and even fellow fighters have claimed? No – the fight should have been stopped regardless. But it does lend credence to the idea that the referee should have ruled the fight a TKO win for O’Malley.
The AllStar MMA roundup
- Fine Dining with Fighters: Uyen Ha and Jada Ketley sit down with John Hyon Ko for a chat
- UFC Long Island: Herbert Burns eyes a quick submission finish over Khusein Askhabov – “I just need one grappling exchange”
- Fight or Flight: Keep up with MMA reporter John Hyon Ko as he trains at Bangtao and prepares to take an amateur fight
The best of the rest
- Alexander Volkanovski: Max Holloway trash talk ‘worked against him because it gave me the fire’ at UFC 276 – MMAFighting.com
- Pedro Munhoz releases statement after UFC 276 no contest, says Sean O’Malley eye poke caused ‘scratch in the cornea’ – MMAFighting.com
- Israel Adesanya admits UFC 276 was an off night, responds to crowd boos: ‘They don’t know what real fighting is’ – MMAJunkie.com
- Stockton Slap! Nate Diaz hits media member backstage at UFC 276 – BloodyElbow.com
- Chris Pratt knocks Israel Adesanya for ‘all that talk and then putting on a little bit of pitter patter’ – MMAMania.com
The call
Here’s a look at your main event odds as they stand at weeks open for UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos vs Fiziev – presented by crypto sports book Cloudbet:
Rafael do Anjos (31-13) vs Rafael Fiziev (11-1)
The soapbox
Paulo’s got an opinion on Izzy’s fight:
Two legends share words:
O’Malley and Triple C get heated backstage:
Ngannou fires at Jon Jones:
Sean Strickland gives an update:
Michael Chandler addresses Dustin Poirier after their UFC 276 run-in:
Thug Nasty calls out Cejudo:
The morning view
Dan Hooker discusses Max Holloway’s options:
Li Jinliang breaks down his upcoming fight at UFC Long Island:
The Weasle details Alex Pereira’s stunning KO of Sean Strickland:
Chael Sonnen asks the question on everyone’s lips:
Done deals
This week
- None to note
On this day in MMA…
On July 4th, 1999, Mark Kerr would earn his 11th career victory when he submitted Nobuhiko Takada via Kimura at Pride 6 in Yokohama, Japan.
On that same card, Kazushi Sakuraba bested Ebenezer Fontes Braga with an armbar in the first round.
