Sean O’Malley has been underestimated a lot in his career. From his days on season 26 of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, which he went on to win, ‘Suga’ has proved critics wrong at every step and has quickly risen to become one of the biggest stars in the UFC.

One of the main reasons behind O’Malley’s success is his unorthodox fighting style, which has made him a force to be reckoned with. As he sets up to face Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 2994, we take a look at his journey and what separates him from others, skill-wise.

Analysing Sean O’Malley’s fighting style

Sean O’Malley is an elite-level striker who has earned comparisons to the likes of Conor McGregor or Anderson Silva in their prime. Possessing an excellent understanding of range and distance management, the Montana native uses his lightning-quick reflexes and shifting footwork to dodge opponents’ strikes and likes to counter them with his frighteningly accurate punches.

Along with this, the bantamweight champion’s feints keep his opponents guessing and on their toes. Firmly in the hit and don’t get hit camp, O’Malley is a veritable sniper, who does his best work from medium and long range. He also has that one-punch KO power that makes his style all the more devastating.

While his fighting style may not be the easiest and is dependent upon his lightning-fast speed and athleticism, it is pretty effective, earning him twelve KO/TKO victories in his seventeen-fight professional MMA wins. However, the one area where he lacks is his grappling, but that, too, is changing fast.

Sean O’Malley’s prowess in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Although his fighting style is based around his excellent striking, Sean O’Malley has a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Augusto Mendes. In addition, the 29-year-old has also competed in various grappling contests, including Quintet Ultra and Grappling Industries.

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This proficiency in BJJ has been crucial to his success as O’Malley uses his defensive wrestling to prevent being taken down and keep the fight on the feet, where he is most dangerous. This was nowhere more apparent than his UFC 293 clash against then-champion Aljamain Sterling last year. Sterling, a world-class grappler, was unable to take ‘Suga’ down during their fight and fell to a beautiful counter right in the second round. And as he sets up to defend his title for the first time against ‘Chito’ Vera next month and with Merab Dvalishvili lurking around the corner, his fighting style will be put to the test in 2024.

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