Sean O’Malley Claims Thomas Almeida Refused To Fight Him At UFC 258
Sean O’Malley is still looking for an opponent for UFC 258 after Thomas Almedia has turned down the chance to fight him on February 13.
The popular bantamweight prospect took to social media to confirm the date of his return in November but stopped short of announcing an opponent for his eagerly anticipated comeback. According to O’Malley, Almedia was supposed to be his opponent for UFC 258 but the Brazilian has now passed up the chance.
“I just got done training in my own garage, in my own cage this morning. It was fun,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “I was supposed to be fighting February 13 against da-da-da. I didn’t say it because I didn’t know. But I got offered Thomas Almeida. He said my left hand was to powerful. Or no, he said my right hand was to powerful or something along those lines of Covid or something.”
O’Malley insisted that Almeida was always supposed to be his UFC 258 opponent and he didn’t announce it because it wasn’t official. Now he and his team are on the lookout for another bantamweight willing to take the fight.
“So he turned the fight down. A good decision on his part as it would have been a nasty KO. So we are still looking. But that’s who I was planning on fighting. I never announced it because obviously it was never official. And it is not official, and it’s not going to be official. So that fight is not happening. Still looking. I plan on fighting in February.” (Transcribed by BJPENN.com)
O’Malley is coming off the first loss of professional career. ‘Suga’ made a considerable step up to face Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 252 in August. On the night, things went horribly wrong for the highly touted prospect who suffered a first-round TKO loss. A few minutes into the fight O’Malley was caught with a leg kick to his right leg. From then on he dealt with some real notable difficulties laterally moving around the Octagon and shifting his weight. Following an engagement before the culmination of the round, O’Malley fell to the canvas. Assuming stacked guard, Vera unleashed a left hook, followed by a massive elbow – with referee Herb Dean separating the two.
Almedia returned from more than two years out of the Octagon to face Jonathan Martinez at UFC Fight Island 6. He was easily outpointed by his opponent over three rounds in what proved to be his third consecutive loss. Almedia was once highly touted but now has four defeats from his last five fights and is without a win since 2016.
Who do you want to see Sean O’Malley fight at UFC 258?
