Sean O’Malley, the reigning UFC bantamweight champ is most well-known for his rainbow hair and zany personality, which has made him a polarizing figure in the UFC. But even his worst critics will admit, even if they do so grudgingly, that the Montana native is perhaps the best striker in the promotion and possibly the sport at the moment.
Reminiscent of a prime Anderson Silva or Conor McGregor at his best, ‘Suga’s striking is not only extremely effective but also very aesthetically pleasing. His clinical dismantling of Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at their UFC 299 rematch, where ‘Suga’ put on a flawless performance and looked nigh untouchable is a clear case in point. And this performance has impressed former UFC champion and GOAT contender Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson so much that he declared one aspect of O’Malley’s game to be divine.
‘DJ’ cannot believe how good ‘Suga’s feints and distance management areADVERTISEMENT
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Johnson, who has become something of a YouTuber over the past year, sat down to analyze Sean O’Malley’s game ahead of the 135-pound champ’s second title defense on September 14. One of the best moments in that fight, of course, came in the second round, when the champ caught ‘Chito’ flush on his chin with a sickening knee that sounded like a baseball hitting the Ecuadorian. And ‘DJ’ broke down the moments before that strike and explained in depth how the champ set up the devastating knee.
“He’s [Sean O’Malley is] a master of the Void [distance management]. There’s a void right here [describing O’Malley’s UFC 299 fight with ‘Chito’ Vera], he wants ‘Chito’ to come across the distance and overextend so he can capitalize on it. Feint feint feint. Feint again, he’s getting reactions, he’s looking he’s creating openings from his feints,” Johnson said.
‘Mighty Mouse’ was positively in awe of O’Malley’s distance management and fantastic feints, and especially how he used the latter to download information on exactly how ‘Chito’ reacted, in an attempt to set up the devastating knee. So impressed was ‘Mighty Mouse’ with O’Malley’s feints that he declared him the ‘Feint God’!
“And this what makes Sean so dangerous ‘cuz once he hurts [his opponent], he will faint up, he gets to the right edge of the distance- the void- and he’s going to throw. This is the Feint God himself. If you look at feints in the dictionary, you’ll see ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley right there,” he added.
Johnson, of course, is on the Mount Rushmore of MMA, which makes his compliments even more meaningful. Game, as they say, recognizes game and that certainly is the case here. However, the champ is gearing up for a fight that will likely test just how good his ground game is.
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Sean O’Malley gearing up for a classic brawler vs. striker clash against Merab on UFC 306Sean O’Malley defended his title against Merab Dvalishvili on UFC Noche (306) on September 14. And the latter, most agree, is a stylistic nightmare for ‘Suga’. Theoretically at least. After all, the Georgian excels at wrestling, and is perhaps the best wrestler in the entire division, having out-wrestled and dominated Olympic gold medallist and former champ Henry Cejudo earlier this year.
On the other hand, ‘Suga’, a pure striker if anything has virtually no ground game. His wrestling skills are firmly of the defensive kind focused on not being taken down. Predictably this makes the champ vulnerable on the ground. And that, of course, is ‘The Machine’s best bet to beat O’Malley.
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If, however, the fight remains on the feet, O’Malley will likely have no issues, especially because ‘The Machine’ has a history of being dropped as he was by Cejudo (who is not even a striker) on UFC 298. Of course, the Georgian has made strong claims about wanting to go toe-to-toe with O’Malley and possibly even knocking him out, but no one believes that really. Of course, this is MMA, perhaps the most unpredictable sport in the entire world. This is why ‘Merab’ knocking out O’Malley cannot be totally ruled out however unlikely it may sound.
What are your predictions for UFC 306?
Source : EssentiallySports