Brendan Schaub believes it is imperative for Sean O'Malley to rematch Pedro Munhoz. According to The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) alum, 'Sugar' might be in trouble if he were to be pitted against someone else without rematching Munhoz.
Schaub pointed out that O'Malley is yet to get a taste of fighting elite-level competition. The 39-year-old said on The Schaub Show:
"Now we move on and I think that's actually a problem for 'Sugar' Sean because if the UFC does go, 'All right we don't redo that. He wants to do someone else in the top 10.' You know, it's gonna be... He didn't even get a taste of those upper echelon guys. He didn't get a taste."
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A highly anticipated matchup between O'Malley and Munhoz met with an abrupt ending at UFC 276 after the Brazilian was left unable to continue due to an eye poke.
'The Young Punisher' had won the opening round on two scorecards before the bout was declared a no-contest.
The only high-level competition O'Malley faced prior to this was Marlon Vera in 2020. 'Sugar' suffered a first-round TKO loss after his leg was visibly compromised following leg kick exchanges. O'Malley is still dismissive of the loss, blaming it on an unlucky nerve injury.
Sean O'Malley leaves it up to fans to decide on a rematch against Pedro Munhoz
Sean O'Malley stated that Pedro Munhoz asked for an immediate rematch following the anti-climactic end to their UFC 276 encounter. 'Sugar', however, believes that he was outclassing Munhoz and the Brazilian was seeking a way out of the fight.
O'Malley urged for a fan poll to decide whether Munhoz was indeed looking for a way out. When asked about a rematch against 'The Young Punisher', the 27-year-old told Sportskeeda MMA's James Lynch at the post-fight presser:
"In the cage, we can run it back. Someone do a poll on Twitter and see if he was looking for a way out. I really believe like that was the best-case scenario for Pedro. I was piecing him up. I was way faster than him. He couldn't hit me, couldn't hurt me. I just... I don't know."
Watch O'Malley's thoughts on the rematch below: