Tim Welch counters Alexander Pantoja's claims, says Sean O'Malley put 'The Cannibal' down in the first minute during their sparring session years ago

Sean O'Malley has engaged in an unexpected rivalry with Alexandre Pantoja during UFC 301 fight week and his coach has gotten involved in the situation.

Rumors of the two having a previous sparring session behind closed doors were brought back up by Pantoja in a recent interview as the flyweight champion campaigned for a shot at double champ status. Pantoja claimed he got the better of O'Malley during the rounds, a claim that has been soundly rejected by 'Suga.'

To back up his fighter's claim, O'Malley's head coach Tim Welch gave his thoughts on the situation on his YouTube channel. Welch said the bantamweight champion essentially knocked out Pantoja, saying:

"Henry Cejudo wanted Pantoja to spar 'Suga' one round. Me and 'Suga' were probably taking heavy bong rips the night before... They spar one round, Sean comes off the rip [and] puts him down in the first minute. Mind you, this is — I don't even remember what year this is. I don't even think Sean was a professional yet."

Check out Tim Welch's comments in the video below:

While Welch gave his side of the story, the coach pointed out that he was not present at the gym during the infamous sparring session, saying he 'had something going on that day.'

Welch, presumably on the information given to him by O'Malley, alleged that Pantoja was knocked down with a body shot and requested that the round be over. The former 14-6 fighter claimed that the MMA Lab team has footage of the incident that they are threatening to release depending on Pantoja's future comments.

Watch the full video from Tim Welch's YouTube channel below:

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Sean O'Malley tweets a corroboration of Tim Welch's story

After Alexandre Pantoja claimed he bested Sean O'Malley in a previous sparring match, the latter expectedly offered a condescending response on social media.

O'Malley called the reigning flyweight champion 'Pantoe' while asking fans if he should post the sparring footage. Taking to X, he wrote:

"Pantoe Keeps bringing up the sparring from like 6 years ago, Not me. Should I post or no?"

Pantoja has not made much of a claim to fight for the bantamweight title ahead of his UFC 301 title defense against Steve Erceg but has already beaten most of the contenders in the division.

O'Malley, meanwhile, has called for his move up to featherweight and compete for the 145-pound belt against Ilia Topuria despite having just two wins over fighters ranked in the top 10 at bantamweight.