5 reasons why Sean O'Malley could be the next bantamweight champion

#2. He is a varied kicker

Most MMA fighters are not good kickers as the prominence of certain techniques and approaches to striking will vary depending on the era. As boxing in MMA has improved, fighters have gotten better at stepping in with the jab and extending their stance. This has rendered most fighters susceptible to low kicks, especially calf kicks as they are more difficult, but not impossible, to check. Thus, the focus on using calf kicks as counters to strong jabs by targeting the lead leg as an opponent extends their stance has led to a decline in kicking variety.

Sean O'Malley, though, is no such fighter. The variety of kicks he throws is impressive. Furthermore, he uses a few kicks to set up other kicks. As a rangy striker, O'Malley often uses low kicks and front kicks, both of which serve to punish opponents from the outside. His low kicks are hard and his front kicks stab his foes' midsections. The kicks deal enough damage that his opponents often drop their hands low to catch or parry the kicks. Once he's burned that reaction into his opponent's mind, Sean O'Malley lifts his thigh as if to throw either a low kick or a front kick before whipping his shin over the top for a high-kick.

If his opponents do not drop their hands low, O'Malley still uses his front kicks to set up high-kicks. The front kicks he throws cause his opponents to stand upright, leaving them in prime position for a high-kick to land.

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#1. Feints & stance-switching

Sean O'Malley throws a wide range of feints. He feints with his hands, legs, and curiously, his head. In particular, he throws a lot of feints with his hands. In his viral knockout win over Eddie Wineland, for example, 'Sugar' set up his right cross brilliantly. He began the sequence standing in his southpaw stance, throwing a variety of strikes from his left side, including a long left hook and a left kick to the body. After establishing these threats from the left side of his body, O'Malley switched to his orthodox stance.

He followed this up with a spinning heel kick with his right leg, which missed as Wineland ducked under it. However, it didn't matter. Wineland didn't account for the change in alignment caused by O'Malley's new stance. For the entire fight, O'Malley baited Wineland with a feinted lead uppercut, causing his foe to drop his hands to block the uppercut. In the final instance, Sean O'Malley feinted the uppercut, and as Wineland's hands dropped in anticipation of the uppercut, O'Malley threw a right cross over the top.

The variety of strikes, feints, and constant stance-switching that Sean O'Malley uses overwhelms his opponents to the point where they overreact to feints even when he's not in range for his strikes to land. It causes his foes to react to every strike he throws, and has been a common theme with almost everyone he's fought.