Sean O’Malley returns to the cage this weekend to face Pedro Munhoz on the UFC 276 main card. UFC 276 is a PPV event and will stream live only on ESPN+ in the United States.
O’Malley has been gaining experience in the UFC and now has seven wins to his name since joining the promotion in 2017. His most recent victories include knockouts of Raulian Paiva, Kris Moutinho, and Thomas Almeida. He believes that Pedro Munhoz is “going to be the toughest dude” that he has shared the Octagon with, but feels that his timing and speed will set him apart on the night.
Munhoz is a highly-regarded bantamweight contender that has competed against many of the best fighters to ever compete in the UFC’s bantamweight division. Munhoz is 1-4 in his last five fights, being defeated by Dominick Cruz, Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar, and current champion Aljamain Sterling. Munhoz’s last wins include a knockout win against Cody Garbrandt and a decision victory against Jimmie Rivera.
UFC fighters shared their O’Malley vs. Munhoz predictions in a recent video with James Lynch. Learn who fighters think will win at UFC 276 this Saturday.
Watch O’Malley vs. Munhoz
- Date:Â Saturday, July 2
- Time:Â PPV Main Card starts at 10 pm ET
- Watch:Â
ESPN + PPV (order here)
Sean O’Malley vs. Pedro Munhoz is a featured fight on the UFC 276 PPV main card this weekend. Fight fans can order the event on the ESPN+ website to watch O’Malley vs. Munhoz live this Saturday night as well as Adesanya vs. Cannonier and Volkanovski vs. Holloway.
O’Malley vs. Munhoz predictions
Neil Magny
“I’m going to have to go with Sean O’Malley in that one. I know Pedro is a tough dude, but I feel like Sean is just going to edge this one out.” (via James Lynch)
Jonathan Martinez
“That’s kind of hard. It depends whether Pedro shows up, you know, I mean, I think Sean will pick him apart. He just stays outside. I think he gets it done. I might say second round.” (via James Lynch)
Nate Maness
“I’m leaning towards O’Malley. I mean, he’s got really clean striking. I think he’s getting Pedro now, and I think he’s coming off a couple of losses. I know he’s still in the top 15. He’s still a great fighter. But, you know, Sean likes to pick and choose who he fights. And I don’t think there’s no coincidence that he’s getting Pedro for this fight. I’m going to take O’Malley.” (via James Lynch)
Ricardo Ramos
“You know, a long time ago, I wanted to fight against Sean O’Malley, and I was 135, and I could not get this fight. But, you know, many people think he’s not a good fighter, and he’s just like a media guy. But he’s good, man. He got some skills, and we’ve got to respect this man. I love Pedro Munhoz, he’s a Brazilian guy, but I don’t know. I think the game doesn’t match for him because he’s a long-distance guy, and O’Malley is a long-distance guy with good hands. So, oh, I’m cheering for Pedro Munhoz, but for the fight game, I think Sean O’Malley has more chance to win.” (via James Lynch)
Saidyokub Kakhramonov
“I mean, I don’t see why Pedro Munhoz is going to lose to him. Come on, man. Like, I mean, he kicks real good on the calf. I mean, he has good leg kicks, and then O’Malley’s that’s his issue. Like he cannot take leg kicks. I mean, I wouldn’t lose to Sean O’Malley.” (via James Lynch)
Shane Burgos
“I know a lot of people are high on O’Malley, the guy has great striking, but I like I like Pedro’s calf kicks in this fight. Because specifically against O’Malley, he has a really wide style, and I’m sure he’s preparing for that. But it’s a little bit different preparing for it and actually feeling it out there. So I mean, I’m going to go Pedro by decision for that one.” (via James Lynch)
Josh Emmett
“Sean O’Malley; I’m probably going to go with him. Pedro Munhoz is a really good fighter as well, but Sean O’Malley uses his range really well. He’s fast. He’s powerful. He has good footwork. So I’m kind of leaning towards him.” (via James Lynch)
Curtis Blaydes
“I think Pedro. I think is he’s a very technical striker also, and he brings some real pop on his punches. I don’t think O’Malley has really faced a power puncher like Munhoz. O’Malley has some holes in his defense. Also, he likes to come in hands down, I think it will lead to him eating a heavy one, and that being the fight. I’m going with Pedro Munhoz.” (via James Lynch)
Damon Jackson
“You know what, they’ve been throwing Sean in everybody’s face for so long you’re kind of like this guy sucks, this guy sucks, you know, whatever. But like, I’m starting to believe in that dude. He’s shown a little bit of potential; I want to go for him. But deep down inside, I think that Munhoz wins that fight.” (via James Lynch)
Johnny Munoz Jr
“That’s another interesting fight. But I think O’Malley takes that fight. I think the range striking is going to be hard for Pedro to get in. But if Pedro takes O’Malley down, I know it could be an easy night for Pedro, in my opinion. That’s what he needs to do. Is he going to do that? I don’t know. But I’m going to go with O’Malley on this one.” (via James Lynch)
Mike Trizano
“I think Pedro Munhoz wins. I’m confused with the outlook on the whole Chito Vera thing. When someone was throwing calf kicks at him, he got hurt. Munhoz has nasty calf kicks. So we’re going to see how that plays into it. So O’Malley has got to make sure he’s aware of those because if he gets hit by a few of them, that’s going to change his footwork because he’s got great footwork. I think he wins if he keeps him on the outside and is able to not get calf kicked, but we’ll see.” (via James Lynch)
Adrian Yanez
“Man, that’s actually a nice step up for Sean O’Malley. It just to me, honestly depends on how he deals with the with the kicks of Pedro Munoz. But he does have the length advantage, and Pedro does kind of get heavy on his feet, and he doesn’t like to move as much. So I’m to give the edge to Sean O’Malley. I think Sean O’Malley takes it.” (via James Lynch)
Charles Johnson
“Low kick Pedro Munhoz versus Mr. ‘let’s throw hands’ O’Malley. I think we’re going to see a lot of growth for Sean O’Malley in this fight. I think it might hit the ground. Sean’s going to touch him on the feet. Pedro gets hits a lot. If he’s not able to like land those low calf kicks and really hurt Sean O’Malley’s low leg, which we’ve seen happen but I think that was kind of fluky. I think he’ll be all right. I want to see O’Malley versus Chito Vera or O’Malley versus a top-level guy. So I want O’Malley to win. I don’t want him to have to take a step back. I want to see what’s going to happen next with him. I want to see how good he actually is.” (via James Lynch)
Davey Grant
“This is a great test for O’Malley. Really a lot of hype behind him, and Munhoz is an absolute killer. I mean, I’m really not sure how that one’s going to go. One I’m very excited to see. Like, I think obviously with Sean this is going to see what he’s like. Like this is going to see if he is living up to the hype, so an exciting fight. I’ll go for Pedro on this one.“ (via James Lynch)
Jack Della Maddalena
“I reckon Suga Sean will win that one. I think Pedro Munhoz is very good. But he’s quite, from what I remember from seeing him fight, he’s quite sort of flat. He doesn’t have a whole lot of movement, and I think Sean O’Malley’s movement around the ring will be enough to sort of stifle Pedro. I think his movement and his length will be too much for Pedro.” (via James Lynch)
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