Sean O'Malley vs. Thomas Almeida

Round 1
In this high-stakes bantamweight tilt, it’s knock out or be knocked out when O’Malley (12-1, 4-1 UFC) faces Almeida (22-4, 5-4 UFC). The two 135ers have scored 25 knockouts across their 34 career wins, but both have also suffered knockout losses of their own in their careers. Keeping a lid on the proceedings is referee Mark Smith, and there is a glove touch between them before they get down to business. O’Malley comes out aggressively with kicks and long, reaching punches. Almeida returns fire with a calf kick, and O’Malley bounces around and stomps his foe’s knee. O’Malley pierces the guard with a left hand, and Almeida ducks out of the way when another one follows. Almeida lands another leg kick, and O’Malley blasts him back with one that is much heavier and makes the Brazilian spin around. Almeida is tentative and he takes a stern kick to the body, but he chases “Sugar” with a pair of punches that come up short. O’Malley drills a spinning back kick to the midsection, and Almeida gathers himself and rushes forward to clip O’Malley in a barrage. Almeida spins himself around trying to kick the leg, and he whiffs on a right hand as O’Malley circles away. The American scores another thudding body kick, and Almeida crashes the pocket and throws bombs. O’Malley ducks away to land a punch and a front kick, and Almeida slips his feet on the fence. O’Malley blasts Almeida with a head kick, and Almeida eats it flush but takes a right hand that sends him falling to the cage. O’Malley walks off to celebrate a win, but the fight is not over. Instead, Almeida gets up and blocks a spinning wheel kick. Almeida walks into a few punches, and a nasty body kick gives Almeida pause again to make the Brazilian shoot in for a takedown. Almeida gathers his thoughts and lands a few low kicks, and he ducks a spinning wheel kick to push O’Malley to the ground. The Brazilian lets O’Malley stand back up, and he stalks O’Malley down and eats another head kick flush. O’Malley hurts him again with a front kick, and he bursts in but gets popped by a right hand from Almeida. The round ends, and Almeida made it to the five-minute mark.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-8 O’Malley
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-8 O’Malley
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-8 O’Malley

Round 2
The two bantamweights consider touching gloves but decide that they will use their hands as rangefinders instead. O’Malley paws out with a front kick to the torso, and Almeida bounces on his front foot and blocks a few punches as O’Malley rushes after him. Almeida tries to advance, only to walk into the full front of a leg kick that buckles his knee. Almeida comes up top with a head kick, but it is short of the mark, and he dances out of the way when O’Malley spins with a kick. Almeida sweeps the leg and set O’Malley down, and he backs off to kick the leg again when the American stands back up. O’Malley rushes forward with a right hand, and Almeida delivers another calf kick low. O’Malley reaches out with a right hand and a stomp side kick to the knee that surprises his opponent. Almeida seems to be struggling to get his balance, as he keeps wiping his feet off while O’Malley chops at his leg. O’Malley lands a few punches and showboats a little, but a follow-up kick gets blocked. O’Malley scores another accurate left hand, and a few body kicks find the mark with ease. Almeida tries to time the circling of O’Malley with a spinning kick, but O’Malley is well out of the way. Almeida looks to counter a front kick with a right hand, and he scores one that draws a frustrated reaction out of O’Malley. Two big hooks glance the target from “Thominhas,” and he comes up shy of the mark with a body kick. Almeida walks O’Malley down and throws a leg kick, and he takes a left hand that splits the guard and wobbles his legs. O’Malley chases him down to the fence, but he cannot land again as Almeida kicks the leg twice. “Sugar” does not like these kicks, and he backs far away to reset. Almeida times a flying knee attempt to let O’Malley fall to his back, landing a right hand and some ground-and-pound while O’Malley is on his back. Almeida elects to land one more leg kick before the round ends.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 O’Malley
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 O’Malley
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 O’Malley

Round 3
There is one last glove touch to begin the final round, and O’Malley is ready to kick the leg first. O’Malley drops his hands and fires off a front kick to the chest, doing so in a way that does not draw a counter. Almeida kicks the leg, and O’Malley gives him one back that is much more damaging and forces Almeida to spin all the way around. Almeida blocks a front kick and takes a stomping kick to the knee that makes him lift his knee up. Almeida walks forward with a high kick that is easily slapped away, and when he wades forward, O’Malley nails him with a right hand. O’Malley gets off a kick and is out of the way before Almeida can return fire. A few jabs from O’Malley keep Almeida at bay, although Almeida does get off his own calf kick. O’Malley lands to the body with a spinning back kick, and he lands a few punches as he starts to brawl with the Brazilian. Almeida lands some powerful strikes that makes O’Malley back off, and “Thominhas” dodges a wicked right hand. O’Malley knees the body as Almeida closes the distance on him, and Almeida pays it no mind as he throws big shots. Almeida shrugs off heavy punches to try to throw bombs, but O’Malley is accurate and sharp as he picks away at an advancing Almeida. The Brazilian lands a stern calf kick that makes O’Malley turn around, and “Sugar” comes back at him with a fierce right hand. O’Malley scores a big right hand, and his opponent falls to the ground spinning and hitting nothing but air. Almeida tries to throw a big hook, and a short left hand counter drops him again. O’Malley walks off once more, and Smith still has not called the fight as Almeida flops to his back, so he drops a bomb of a right hand that short-circuits Almeida and forces Smith to step in. This is a hugely important victory for the “Sugar Show,” who gets back in the win column with a statement-making performance over a tough out.

The Official Result
Sean O’Malley def. Thomas Almeida R3 3:52 via KO (Punches)