Sean
O’Malley talked the talk for years, and he walked the walk when
it mattered most.
The 2017
Dana White’s Contender Series graduate cut down Aljamain
Sterling with punches in the second round of their UFC
292 headliner, as he captured the undisputed
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title on Saturday
at the TD Garden in Boston. Sterling (23-4, 15-4 UFC) succumbed to
blows 51 seconds into Round 2, suffering his first defeat in almost
six years.
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O’Malley (16-2, 8-2 UFC) spent much of an uneventful first round
getting reads and utilizing feints. He slipped on a misfired kick
early in the second, returned to an upright position and lured in
Sterling, who overextended on a straight left. O’Malley countered
with a picture-perfect right cross that sent the champion into a
nosedive onto all fours. He followed up with standing-to-ground
hammerfists and continued to let the punches fly until referee Marc
Goddard had seen enough.
Zhang Dismantles Lemos in Five-Round Rout
Well-timed takedowns, asphyxiating control and overwhelming
ground-and-pound carried Weili Zhang
to a unanimous decision over Amanda
Lemos, as she retained the undisputed UFC women’s strawweight
championship in the co-main event. Scores were 50-43, 50-44 and
49-45.
A physical powerhouse in every sense of the word, Zhang (24-3, 8-2
UFC) was on point in every phase. She consolidated takedowns with
extended periods of control and multi-pronged ground-and-pound,
which included shoulder strikes, short punches and hammerfists.
Lemos (13-3-1, 7-3 UFC) had a few near misses, a first-round brabo
choke from her back chief among them. Zhang, however, answered her
at every turn. She did some of her best work in Round 5, where she
decked Lemos with a jarring right hand, moved to a backside
crucifix and battered her with punches, hammerfists, elbows and
knees to the body. Only the Brazilian’s indomitable will kept her
from folding.
Zhang has rattled off three consecutive victories.
Flawless Garry Dominates Magny
The bravado-infused Ian Garry
kept his perfect professional record intact and did so with
something of a sadistic glee, as he routed “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 16 semifinalist Neil Magny to
a unanimous decision in a three-round welterweight showcase. All
three judges sided with the undefeated Garry (13-0, 6-0 UFC):
30-26, 30-26 and 30-24.
A short-notice fill-in for Geoff Neal,
Magny (28-11, 21-10 UFC) had no answers for the Kill Cliff Fight
Club-trained Irishman. Garry brutalized his lower lead leg with
repeated kicks, froze him with feints and hid occasional flurries
behind a steady jab. Magny struggled to stay afloat due to
uncooperative lower extremities and became more and more of a
stationary target as time wore on. Garry moved toward a finish late
in the third round, where he connected with a front kick to the
face, followed it with a pair of partially blocked head kicks and
then drove his opponent to the canvas. He applied his
ground-and-pound, paired it with heavy top control and bit down on
a guillotine choke in the closing seconds, but Magny managed to
survive to hear the final horn.
The 36-year-old Magny has alternated wins and losses in five
straight outings.
Bautista Downs Replacement Blackshear
MMA Lab standout Mario
Bautista won for the fifth time in as many outings, as he laid
claim to a unanimous decision over onetime Cage Fury Fighting
Championships titleholder Da’Mon
Blackshear in a three-round bantamweight feature. Bautista
(13-2, 7-2 UFC) swept the scorecards with 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28
marks from the judges.
A late replacement for the injured Cody
Garbrandt, Blackshear (14-6-1, 2-2-1 UFC) handled himself well
in what was his second appearance in seven days. He struck for
multiple takedowns across the first 10 minutes, stayed busy in the
clinch, scored with leg kicks and even mixed in a few collar-tie
elbows. To Bautista’s credit, he kept his composure under
considerable duress and put together a dominant Round 3. There, he
pressured a visibly fatigued Blackshear, forced him backward and
followed completed takedowns by advancing to the back on multiple
occasions.
The setback snapped a two-fight winning streak for Blackshear, who
had submitted Jose
Johnson with a twister at UFC on ESPN 51 on Aug. 12.
Damaging Vera Outduels Munhoz
A crushing jab and clean combination punching spurred RVCA Training
Center rep Marlon Vera
to a unanimous decision over former Resurrection Fighting Alliance
champion Pedro
Munhoz in their three-round bantamweight appetizer. All three
members of the cageside judiciary scored it for Vera (21-8-1, 15-7
UFC): 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
Munhoz (20-8, 10-8 UFC) tried to flood his counterpart with output
and spent much of the first round appearing to succeed in doing so.
Vera caught on in the middle stanza, responded in kind with
effective counters and sneaky left hooks to the body, along with
the jab around which it all revolved. He pressed his advantages
further in Round 3, where he doubled and tripled up on the jab,
fired his left hand with more zest and pulled away from Munhoz, who
was bleeding from cuts under his right eye and across the bridge of
the nose.
Vera, 30, has won five of his past six bouts.
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