Sean O’Malley vs Thomas Almeida takes place in the main card of UFC 260. This card features some huge fights including Stipe Miocic vs Francis Ngannou 2 and Tyron Woodley vs Vicente Luque. However, fans are certainly intrigued about this bantamweight matchup.
Sean O’Malley will make his UFC return after his first MMA loss to Marlon Vera. On the other hand, Thomas Almeida, who was one of the most promising prospects a few years ago will fight for his place in UFC. Both fighters are coming from losses in their last fight. And both will be looking to get back on the win column. However, who will be the one that will get his hands raises at UFC 260? Let’s find out.
Sean O’Malley vs Thomas Almeida Stats
Sean O’Malley
Wins/Losses-12/1 (9 finishes)
Striking accuracy- 58%
Grappling accuracy- 50%
Reach- 72
Last 5 fights- 4 wins 1 loss
Thomas Almeida
Wins/Losses- 22/4 (21 finishes)
Striking accuracy- 44%
Grappling accuracy- 0
Reach- 67
Last 5 fights- 1 win 4 losses
Sean O’Malley vs Thomas Almeida Prediction
Sean O’Malley will be the favorite going into this fight and rightfully. O’Malley has the star power and he has looked in his previous UFC fights. Besides that he has insane power in his hands for a UFC bantamweight and has a solid ground game as well. But, his last loss to Marlon Vera has raised some concern about the durability of his legs.
This was not the first time Sean O’Malley injured his leg during a fight. It has happened to him before. And if Almedia can invest in calf kicks and inside leg kicks early in the fight then he has a solid chance to beat O’Malley.
Though Sean O’Malley believes that he is unbeaten and the loss to Vera does not mean much his future opponents will certainly take notes from his loss. And it won’t be surprising if Almeida comes with a gameplan to damage O’Malley’s legs with kicks and limit his movements. Almeida can even look to grapple with O’Malley was engaging in a striking battle with O’Malley who has a huge reach advantage over you won’t be wise.
But, Thomas Almeida is at a rough spot right now with 4 losses in his last 5 fights. It does not look like Almeida is taking the power punches from his opponent as well as he used to. He got knocked down multiple times in the fight against Jimmie Rivera and got TKOed by Rob Font.
He is also cutting a lot of weights to fight at the bantamweight. Though he packs some serious power in his hands he just can’t afford to go for the finish against O’Malley recklessly leaving his chin wide open for O’Malley to land a big shot. Besides that, the reach disadvantage will be huge trouble for Almeida as O’Malley throws some nasty leg kicks.
Sean O’Malley was beating Marlon vera until the calf kicks started doing the damage. O’Malley is a much better and intelligent striker and has more power than Almeida. The fight is very likely to be a striking heavy fight and that’s where O’Malley performs the best. Considering all these factors, O’Malley should get the job done early in the fight.
Sean O’Malley vs Thomas Almeida Prediction: Sean O’Malley First Round finish