Was Sean O'Malley ever that good? Analyzing the former champion's record after Noche UFC 306

There is no doubt that Sean O'Malley is a good fighter. However, the question has always been whether he is the world's greatest bantamweight. Following his lopsided loss to Merab Dvalishvili at Noche UFC 306, that question has been answered. He isn't. But was he ever as good as advertised?

O'Malley has always spoken highly of his skill set, be it in isolation or in comparison to others, like Ilia Topuria, who he once intended to challenge for featherweight gold. But in the wake of losing his bantamweight title to Dvalishvili, a reevaluation of 'Suga' as a fighter is in order.

He isn't as good as he thought was, which is true for most fighters. But with O'Malley, the signs were always there for the world to see.

---

An analysis of Sean O'Malley's unranked UFC wins

The hype behind Sean O'Malley has always stemmed from his thrilling finishes over unranked competition. The bulk of his highlight reel consists of knockouts against overmatched foes. It is against this caliber of opponents that he has always flourished.

O'Malley's layered strike is best seen whenever he faces them. He maintains a long-range, forcing his opponent to over-extend out of position, rendering them a prime target for his quick counterpunching. He also uses his dynamic kicking arsenal to great effect.

O'Malley kicks low and hard or stabs the midsection with a front kick, eventually causing his foe to tuck their elbows into their sides, keeping their arms low. With their head exposed, he fakes low before going high, smashing his opponent's unprotected chin with his shin.

Check out Sean O'Malley's knockout of Eddie Wineland:

Alternatively, he'll use feints and stance-switching to set things up. Against Eddie Wineland, for example, 'Suga' threw a long left hook and left round kick to the body from southpaw. Thereafter, he switched to orthodox with a spinning heel kick that Wineland was wise to, ducking under it.

However, O'Malley's plan was already set. The change in alignment from O'Malley's stance-switching had gone over Wineland's head. Furthermore, he had spent large stretches of the fight faking the lead uppercut, as if warning Wineland that he'd eventually commit to a true uppercut.

So, when 'Sugar' faked the uppercut again, Wineland dropped his hands, exposing his head to a follow-up right cross that knocked him out cold. O'Malley's striking brilliance has always been clear against unranked bantamweights. He styled them all, even if he didn't always stop them.

Terrion Ware, Andre Soukhamthath José Alberto Quiñónez, and of course, Wineland himself, were all outclassed. Although Soukhamthath did benefit from O'Malley injuring his foot when they fought. Afterward, he took on future career rival Marlon 'Chito' Vera.

Check out Sean O'Malley's TKO loss to Marlon Vera:

While O'Malley looked sharp, he never truly got going, and a calf kick from 'Chito' ultimately compromised his leg. On the mat, he was TKO'd, handed his first loss. Following the shock of the defeat, which he has always refused to accept, 'Sugar' was given a layup in the form of Thomas Almeida, who was 1-4 in his last five.

Naturally, O'Malley won with relative ease, knocking him out. Unfortunately for him, beating a chinny, an unranked fighter on a losing streak wasn't convincing anyone of his prospects at the top of the division, and neither was TKO'ing Kris Moutinho, a glorified punching bag whose only notable attribute is his toughness.

The situation is clear. O'Malley looks good against unranked competition, especially given that all of his foes up until a certain point were strikers with no takedown threat, which is why many claimed he had a weakness to wrestlers. It wasn't because he'd lost to them, but because he avoided them.

Check out Sean O'Malley's TKO of Kris Moutinho:

Things didn't get any better in ranked territory, where he continued to receive favorable matchups that never tested him as a mixed martial artist.

---

Sean O'Malley's questionable ranked streak

Finally, Sean O'Malley entered the rankings by beating the then #15 Raulian Paiva, who most will not remember. The Brazilian had no business being in the cage with 'Sugar' and posed no wrestling threat to speak of. Again, O'Malley was given a comfortable matchup against a so-so striker.

It had become increasingly difficult to assess his level as a fighter. How high was his ceiling? Thereafter, he continued climbing the rankings, next taking on Pedro Munhoz, who is nothing to write home about. He is decently skilled and freakishly durable but lacks punching power.

Furthermore, he was on a two-fight losing streak and had gone 1-4 in his last five fights by the time he and O'Malley fought. Their matchup was underwhelming. O'Malley never truly got going beyond landing a few low kicks. With time winding down in round two, he inadvertently poked Munhoz in the eye.

Check out the Sean O'Malley vs. Pedro Munhoz no-contest:

With Munhoz unable to continue fighting with a corneal abrasion, O'Malley was handed a no-contest, but still celebrated as though it were a win. At this point, 'Sugar' was struggling to impress the MMA fandom with his efforts against ranked competition.

Nevertheless, he was gifted a high-profile fight against former bantamweight champion Petr Yan. Many expected the bout to be a step too far for 'Sugar,' who still hadn't faced a wrestler. For this reason, it should come as no surprise to learn that O'Malley was outwrestled by Yan come fight night.

However, he still gave a good account of himself, hurting the former champion on the feet in what was an extremely competitive fight that even he wasn't immediately certain he'd won. Yet, to the surprise of many, the judges' scorecards crowned O'Malley as the winner by split decision.

Check out Sean O'Malley vs. Petr Yan highlights:

Following the win, there was no doubt what O'Malley would do next. He faced Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title, forcing the champion to fight him in a grueling turnaround. Ahead of the bout, many expected Sterling's wrestling and grappling to pose significant challenges for O'Malley.

However, Sterling, who is poor at range, couldn't cross the distance well enough to shoot in on O'Malley's hips as he'd like to. Additionally, he was likely compromised from cutting weight so soon after fighting just three months prior. Regardless, O'Malley sniped Sterling as promised, TKO'ing him.

It was a quality win to be sure, and it crowned O'Malley as bantamweight champion. But his track record up until then was unremarkable. It didn't help matters when he defended his title for the first time against a 1-1 Marlon Vera who has always been an overachiever.

Vera was unworthy of a title shot and was only given the opportunity due to his rivalry with O'Malley. So it came as no surprise to anyone when 'Sugar' styled on him in the octagon, authoring a masterclass against a plodding striker whose greatest attribute is toughness and biggest flaw is absurdly low volume.

Check out Sean O'Malley beating Marlon Vera:

The win was impressive, but the caliber of the foe wasn't. Having not faced the best the division had to offer consistently, O'Malley had a warped view of the kind of fighter he was. However, his over-the-top dream of dethroning Ilia Topuria for the featherweight title and going on to box Gervonta Davis received a reality check.

At Noche UFC 306, he was overwhelmed, paralyzed, and outwrestled by Dvalishvili, his stylistic nightmare in the truest form. The loss, a humbling one to be certain, revealed the chinks in O'Malley's armor that fans always suspected. That isn't to say he isn't a good fighter.

O'Malley is an exceptional striker who looks like Anderson Silva in his prime against unranked opponents. But when he faces ranked competition, he's reduced to mere flashes of unpolished brilliance.