UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has shared a video on social media showing the end of a 2016 sparring session with flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja, in which O’Malley lands a hard body kick leading to Pantoja ending the spar.
Sean O’Malley, UFC bantamweight champ, has shared a glimpse of a 2016 sparring session’s final moments. His opponent? Flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja.
Earlier this week, O’Malley teased fans with a clip from their past spar. It showed him taking Pantoja down. But, he held back on releasing the finish, claiming it was “just mean.” He did, however, mention a “liver kick” that ended the first round.
Well, seems like “Sugar” had a change of heart. Come Friday morning, he shared the ending of their spar on social media. The footage showed the 135-pound champ landing a solid body kick. Moments later, Pantoja called it quits.
Curious? Check out the video below.
Pantoja mentioned the sparring session during UFC 301 fight week. This was before his successful title defense against Steve Erceg. He also shared his side of the story during an October 2023 appearance on The MMA Hour.
“I trained with O’Malley five, six years ago,” Pantoja began. “Never thought this guy would make it to the UFC, let alone take the belt. And me? I took the belt too. Crazy, right?”
“That’s why I challenged him to a fight. He started talking about our training from two years ago. But let’s rewind to five, six years ago. I was at the [MMA] Lab, before I teamed up with [Henry] Cejudo. I’d just finished a 60-hour flight. I’d never set foot in the Lab before. I sparred with everyone. You need guts to do that.”
“O’Malley asks me, ‘Hey, can I record this training?’ I said, ‘Sure. Just send me the video when you’re done. I might learn something.’ But he never sent me the video. I asked Cejudo to tell his friend to give me the video. Cejudo’s response? ‘Forget it. He’s never going to send you that video.’
“You know why. If you’re losing, you don’t show the video.”
A lot has changed since 2016. Both fighters now hold world titles. O’Malley is set to defend his title later this year against Merab Dvalishvili. Pantoja, on the other hand, is eyeing a return by year-end.