Sean O'Malley has risen to fame due to his in-cage performances and out of the cage personality. However, 'Sugar' hasn't always been famous and recently uploaded a YouTube short talking about his first MMA experience.
The UFC bantamweight contender took on Stein Anderson at FightForce: Helena Havoc 11 back in 2013. It seems O'Malley wasn't massively prepared for his opponent, stating that his main game plan was to land a spinning backfist:
"I told my training partners, I told my dad. 'I'm gonna throw a spinning backfist', that was literally my plan. I was just a skinny little dude."
Watch O'Malley speak about his first ever MMA bout on his YouTube channel here:
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However, his lack of experience and size didn't hold Sean O'Malley back from securing his first-ever MMA victory. O'Malley defeated Anderson via TKO after two rounds of fighting.
The win is technically an amateur bout, with O'Malley amassing an amateur record of 5 wins and just 1 loss in the rookie MMA scene. Myles Mazurkiewicz is the only fighter to have beaten 'Sugar' on the amateur MMA circuit. He submitted the American in the very first round at Fusion Fight League: Sidney Insanity 3.
Watch the full bout between O'Malley and Anderson here:
Sean O'Malley ended his amateur MMA career in 2014, beating Brandon Caldwell at ICF: Intense Championship Fighting 16 via submission in the second round.
Did Sean O'Malley win his professional MMA debut and who did he fight?
As mentioned, Sean O'Malley had a near-flawless amateur MMA career and continued his fine form into the professional scene. O'Malley took on Josh Reyes in his professional MMA debut back in 2015.
'Sugar' got the better of Reyes within the opening five minutes at ICF: Intense Championship Fighting 17. He won the bout via TKO and had a perfect start to life as a professional fighter.
The American remained unbeaten in the professional MMA world until facing Marlon Vera in the UFC. In 2020, Vera became the first professional fighter to beat O'Malley, winning via TKO in the very first round at UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier 3.
However, the only other blip in O'Malley's professional MMA career came against Pedro Munhoz. The bout was forced to end early due to an illegal eye poke resulting in Munhoz being unable to continue, meaning the fight ended in a no-contest.