Sean O'Malley is willing to step in as a replacement fighter for any future bantamweight bout following a no-contest with Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276.
Speaking to ESPN MMA's Megan Olivi, 'Sugar' reacted to his UFC 276 bout with Munhoz being stopped due to an accidental eye poke. When asked if he would be open to jumping right back into the fray, the 27-year-old expressed his willingness to take a short-notice bout should someone pull out:
"Potentially. A lot of guys have fights booked right now, maybe someone pulls out. I don't know, it's so hard to say right now. We'll see, you never know."
Watch Sean O'Malley's full interview with ESPN MMA below:
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O’Malley entered his latest bout at UFC 276 on the back of three consecutive finishes over Thomas Almeida, Kris Moutinho and Raulian Paiva. 'Sugar' was determined to score his fourth straight win inside the distance. However, the fight had to be stopped after an eye poke from O'Malley in the second round left his opponent unable to continue.
Sean O'Malley blasts judges for giving the first round to Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276
Sean O'Malley believes that he was winning the fight until it was stopped and declared a no-contest. However, the judges felt otherwise as they scored the first round in favor of the Brazilian.
Speaking at the UFC 276 post-fight press conference, O'Malley lashed out at the judges for giving the round to his opponent despite Munhoz not being able to land any shots. Here's what 'Sugar' said:
"For those judges to say that's a score for him, they're completely stupid, literally just stupid... I was winning the fight. I mean, I can't believe the judges... I literally didn't get hit. What were they watching? I didn't get hit. How could you score that? That makes zero sense."
Watch O'Malley's full interaction with the media at the UFC 276 post-fight presser below:
'Sugar' is one of the most highly touted fighters in the UFC right now. The 27-year-old had the opportunity to break into the bantamweight top 10 with a win over the No.9-ranked Munhoz. The fight was also dubbed one of the toughest challenges of O'Malley's career.