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Suga Show greets the Steel Chin! The opener to UFC 264 was an electric and fast paced war between "Suga" Sean O'Malley and real life Rocky; Kris Moutinho. I know I wasn't the only one on my feet the entirety of the fight... a fight that SHOULD have went the distance.
Suga Sean put on without a doubt, the greatest striking onslaught in UFC history. Not sure how the hell Max Holloway's boxing performance in January could be topped; but here we are six months later, left in awe after a picture-perfect boxing performance inside the Octagon... all thanks to the rising superstar Sean O'Malley.
The variety of striking, the footwork and foot speed, the precision... THE ARSENAL! Sean may have the best arsenal or "move-set" in the stand-up of any fighter on the roster. Rather its a spinning kick, faded uppercut, cross, or masterful combinational striking... Suga Sean brings it all. We saw that in force on Saturday. This man destroyed every striking record and did it while destroying every precision striking record. The stats are wild.
Through just three rounds, O'Malley landed a wild 230 significant strikes which is the second most in a 3-rounder trailing only Nate Diaz' record of 238. It was the most landed in a Bantamweight bout in UFC history. Sean literally made it look like he was in the gym hitting the speed bag. The jab work was absolutely insane, the precision of his strikes was most crazy as he landed all those strikes at a 84% rate. That is a jaw-dropping stat. Sean's performance was a jaw-dropping performance. That's the only right way to put it; jaw-dropping. The fact that he landed the second most significant strikes in a UFC three-round fight at over an 80% rate is mind-boggling. Tag after tag, after tag, after tag. It was nuts. Not only were the strikes landing at will but each came with thunder as Suga was constantly whipping his opponent's neck back.
Sean O'Malley once again proved to be one of the most electric performers the UFC has to offer and it wasn't just his boxing, but his confidence and trash-talk/animations while touchin' his opponent up. Sean had a special pre-fight tweet, shouting out the Phoenix Suns and calling his shot.
Sean didn't just stop there. He brought his excitement for the NBA Finals right into his mauling at 264, as he began to dribble around between his legs into an electric combination which almost led to what would have been the most bad-a** spinning kick finish in MMA history. Check the attempt and the entertaining brilliance of Suga:
video via UFC and Zuffa LLC
Sean lit the roof off the place in Vegas with his electric striking and entertaining masterpiece, and put his self in the real spotlight as he is to finally be given a big name in the rankings. Despite the Suga Show being in full display, the night somehow wasn't all his... and his brilliance brought something else to display; Rocky 2.0.
The green-haired zombie himself (according to JoRo), Kris f'n Moutinho. The Steel Chin. Rocky 2.0. We can make names and names for this savage. Never have I seen a dude, do what that dude did. He had me hearing numerous Joey Styles esque "OMG" chants in my head as this man was getting his neck whipped and his face mauled while still moving forward and talkin' some good stuff. It was epic. Literally epic. Might have been better than Rocky if I'm being honest. This guy LITERALLY ATE PUNCHES. He had a full-course dinner of Suga jabs and crosses. But he just wouldn't die. He wouldn't give in. Not only was he not finished, but the dude was landing some blows and had Suga in a ice bath for a week. The way he continued to move forward right into the violence with no regard for human life... it was glorious. I completely lost my wits when O'Malley dropped his mouth piece and as the fight quickly was delayed for him to pick it up, Kris circled toward, immediately like a damn hyena and went right back into the violence. The grit, the heart, and well 'scuse the french but the straight up balls on that young man was a joy to watch as a fight fan.
Despite O'Malley completely dominating and Moutinho looking like roadkill, it is Sean who has a possible lengthy time away. Due to the fight he has a medical suspension of 180 days or until both hands, left tibia and right foot are cleared by a doctor. The man wrecked both his fist trying to punch through 'The Steel Chin". What a savage Kris is. Like man. Kris went into the fight with one goal and that was win or lose, he was going to elevate his life and earn a chance for more glory inside a UFC octagon. Sean O'Malley's performance certainly deserves a bow but the grit and awe that Rocky Kris put on display deserves a standing o from every sports fan.
There is one thing that Kris didn't deserve though, and that was the damn stoppage by Herb Dean. Like cmon man. What a bunch of hogwash to do that to Moutinho. Most of yah are well aware on my feelings toward the safety of a fighter when officiating, but that stoppage was wrong and real sh****. Dean had enough of seeing Kris take punishment but he should have called the fight in the second round then, not with 20 seconds left while Kris is still moving forward and throwing a strike. Let the man go out on his shield . Cmon man!
Nonetheless, this fight was absolutely insane and showed two things of greatness; The Suga Boxing Show & the legend of Kris Moutinho... aka Rocky 2.0. We are to give our utmost respect to Kris Moutinho rather you are a fight fan, a fan of any competition or just a fan of watching someone fight for their goals and family. What a show. What a fight. What a heart.
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