Fans call Sean O'Malley's KO of Aljamain Sterling 'one of the most beautiful shots' ever seen in the UFC after slow mo highlights the inch-perfect pull counter... as the new bantamweight king draws comparisons to Conor McGregor
- 8 months ago
Fans have hailed Sean O'Malley's spectacular knockout of Aljamain Sterling as one of the best in the history of MMA.
'Suga' entered the main event of UFC 292 as a sizeable underdog, with Sterling riding a nine-fight undefeated streak and possessing some of the most dominant grappling skills the division has ever seen.
When the two met inside the Octagon in Saturday's headline bout Sterling immediately set about imposing his wrestling but was unable to secure a takedown across his two attempts in a tentative first five minutes.
The defending champion opened the second more aggressively, pushing forward while O'Malley skilfully managed to stay just out of range of his strikes before defending a takedown attempt against the cage.
Forced back onto the outside, Sterling again tried to close the distance by driving forward with a left straight but O'Malley expertly pulled back and clipped the onrushing Sterling with a picture-perfect counter right, sending him tumbling to the canvas before finishing him off with ground and pound.
Breaking from convention, the UFC uploaded the stoppage on social media immediately following the event, with the KO racking up more than 2 million views in three hours on X.
One fan wrote: 'Wow, what a knockout by Suga Sean O'Malley! That was incredible, the way he landed that shot and snuck it in there. Truly a testament to his skill and precision in the octagon.'
Another added: 'One of the most beautiful shots we've seen in a long time. Sean O'Malley is gonna go down as one of the cleanest, most precise strikers in MMA.'
A further UFC fan agreed: 'The most beautiful pull counter I have probably ever seen. Picture perfect.'
Several fans also compared O'Malley's victory to Conor McGregor's KO of Jose Aldo in 2015.
Much like Saturday's main event, the UFC 194 main event saw a highly-touted challenger face off against a long-reigning champion with UFC gold on the line.
The only significant differences between O'Malley and McGregor's stoppage wins were the round the KO occurred in and the hand it was delivered.
In McGregor's case, he defeated Jose Aldo just thirteen seconds into the first round, and he intercepted the Brazilian charging forward with a pull counter from his patented left hand.
As an outspoken fan-favorite striker with devastating finishing instincts, O'Malley is bound to draw comparisons to McGregor. Now Dana White will be hoping the 28-year-old can replicate the Irishman's success as a pay-per-view draw moving forward.....
'Suga' entered the main event of UFC 292 as a sizeable underdog, with Sterling riding a nine-fight undefeated streak and possessing some of the most dominant grappling skills the division has ever seen.
When the two met inside the Octagon in Saturday's headline bout Sterling immediately set about imposing his wrestling but was unable to secure a takedown across his two attempts in a tentative first five minutes.
The defending champion opened the second more aggressively, pushing forward while O'Malley skilfully managed to stay just out of range of his strikes before defending a takedown attempt against the cage.
Forced back onto the outside, Sterling again tried to close the distance by driving forward with a left straight but O'Malley expertly pulled back and clipped the onrushing Sterling with a picture-perfect counter right, sending him tumbling to the canvas before finishing him off with ground and pound.
Breaking from convention, the UFC uploaded the stoppage on social media immediately following the event, with the KO racking up more than 2 million views in three hours on X.
One fan wrote: 'Wow, what a knockout by Suga Sean O'Malley! That was incredible, the way he landed that shot and snuck it in there. Truly a testament to his skill and precision in the octagon.'
Another added: 'One of the most beautiful shots we've seen in a long time. Sean O'Malley is gonna go down as one of the cleanest, most precise strikers in MMA.'
A further UFC fan agreed: 'The most beautiful pull counter I have probably ever seen. Picture perfect.'
Several fans also compared O'Malley's victory to Conor McGregor's KO of Jose Aldo in 2015.
Much like Saturday's main event, the UFC 194 main event saw a highly-touted challenger face off against a long-reigning champion with UFC gold on the line.
The only significant differences between O'Malley and McGregor's stoppage wins were the round the KO occurred in and the hand it was delivered.
In McGregor's case, he defeated Jose Aldo just thirteen seconds into the first round, and he intercepted the Brazilian charging forward with a pull counter from his patented left hand.
As an outspoken fan-favorite striker with devastating finishing instincts, O'Malley is bound to draw comparisons to McGregor. Now Dana White will be hoping the 28-year-old can replicate the Irishman's success as a pay-per-view draw moving forward.....