Sean O’Malley, Cody Garbrandt and Aljamain Sterling each shined at UFC 250, while Conor McGregor again decided to walk away from MMA.
Three exciting bantamweights tried to outdo each other, and Amanda Nunes looked as good as ever at UFC 250 on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, Conor McGregor went on social media to announce his retirement from MMA. Again.
Indeed, Saturday will go down as a night MMA fans will remember for a while, mostly due to the stunning performances by Sean O’Malley, Aljamain Sterling and Cody Garbrandt at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
O’Malley, the ballyhooed prospect, started the excitement with a one-punch knockout in the first round to defeat veteran Eddie Wineland and move to 12-0.
Not much later, Sterling finished Cory Sandhagen with a rear-naked choke less than two minutes into the opening round, making his case as the top title contender at 135. Garbrandt, a former UFC bantamweight champ, followed in the co-main event with a stunning KO of Raphael Assuncao as the horn sounded at the end of Round 2.
What does the future hold for each of those fighters? Does the women’s featherweight division have a future after Nunes’ drubbing of top contender Felicia Spencer in the main event? Is McGregor bluffing? ESPN’s expert panel of Ariel Helwani, Brett Okamoto and Marc Raimondi tackle those topics and more.
Sean O’Malley says he envisioned himself knocking out Eddie Wineland in the first round of UFC 250, which is a reason why he was calm afterward.
Helwani: I love the way the UFC has booked Sean O’Malley. Sometimes it gets too excited and pushes someone too quickly, but it has pushed him just right, in my opinion. Of course, he was sidelined for two years due to his issues with the U. S. Anti-Doping Agency, but even upon returning the matchups have been just right. I don’t want to see him in there with a top-five opponent just yet. Let’s go with top-six-to-10 next and if he wins that, top-five, and then if he wins that we can talk title shot. Slow and steady wins the race here, and they are so far doing a great job of showcasing him in the right matchups. He has it all and is worth going with the slow-build route.
If purchased, all fights from UFC 250 will be available to watch on ESPN+.
• Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Felicia Spencer
• Raphael Assunção vs. Cody Garbrandt
• Aljamain Sterling vs. Cory Sandhagen
• Neil Magny vs. Anthony Rocco Martin
• Eddie Wineland vs. Sean O’Malley
• Alex Caceres vs. Chase Hooper
• Ian Heinisch vs. Gerald Meerschaert
• Cody Stamann vs. Brian Kelleher
• Charles Byrd vs. Maki Pitolo
• Alex Perez vs. Jussier Formiga
• Alonzo Menifield vs. Devin Clark
• Evan Dunham vs. Herbert Burns
Watch the complete card on ESPN+
Okamoto: One step closer to becoming a star, definitely. I don’t want to oversell it. O’Malley still has a long way to go in terms of becoming a household name and a pay-per-view draw. Being a hot prospect with a ton of hype is one thing. Inspiring people to drop money to see you fight is another. He also has a long way to go in terms of toppling the top of this division, which, it should be noted, is stacked. There are some very tough matchups lying ahead for O’Malley, and he knows that. Here’s what’s exciting, though: He has shown that ability to always top his previous performance. That’s hard to do. It’s very difficult to pull one viral moment after another, say the right things in the aftermath, and exceed the expectations of hype. O’Malley is doing that. And that’s probably the surest sign of a budding star there is.
Raimondi: Wow. O’Malley is the real deal, huh? That was a really impressive knockout of Eddie Wineland. It really does feel as though O’Malley is on a different level. And there’s just something about him — an aura, or maybe it’s the rainbow hair — that makes him stand out as a potential star. Maybe not even potential. O’Malley might already be there. So, the question is how quickly does the UFC push him to the top of the division? It might be really tempting for the promotion to elevate him, and I think that will happen. I’d imagine the « Suga Show » involves a top-10 opponent next time and I would not be shocked if O’Malley is just about two wins — or fewer — away from a title shot.
Helwani: I was blown away by what Cody Stamann did out there. Not only was that arguably his best performance in the UFC so far, but when you consider he fought with a very heavy heart, it is even more impressive. In case you missed it, Stamman’s 18-year-old brother, Jacob, died unexpectedly May 27. He told ESPN’s Marc Raimondi this week that the family still doesn’t know what caused his untimely death. Amazingly, Stamann was still able to finish his training camp for this bout and fight like that. And, understandably, he was incredibly emotional afterward. Lots of respect for the way he handled that; worth mentioning, too, that his opponent, Brian Kelleher handled the situation with the utmost class, as well.
Okamoto: It ain’t easy fighting in the UFC at age 20. That’s the takeaway. Chase Hooper ran into an absolute wall against Alex Caceres — but that doesn’t mean he’s overrated. Was he rushed into that matchup? Yeah, it would seem he was. Vegas had Hooper as more than a 2-to-1 favorite, but sometimes experience trumps all, and that’s what we saw on Saturday.
