The Suga Show will kick off its 2021 season on March 27 when Sean O’Malley returns to face Thomas Almeida at UFC 260.
UFC 260 has added its first bantamweight fight to its lineup when “Suga” Sean O’Malley faces Thomas Almeida. Sean O’Malley made the announcement himself via his YouTube channel on Tuesday.
Sean O’Malley last competed at UFC 252 against Marlon Vera in a bout that saw Vera hand O’Malley his first professional loss. O’Malley entered that bout with a flawless 12-0 record, with wins over names like Jose Quiñónez and Eddie Wineland in the UFC. In the UFC 252 co-main event, Vera was able to execute leg kicks that immobilized O’Malley before putting the then 25-year-old away with elbows.
O’Malley chalked the loss up to a fluke occurrence after suffering foot drop brought about by temporary nerve damage. He has also maintained that he is the far superior fighter to Vera. He won’t have a chance to prove that against Vera himself yet, but he will have a chance to show that he has the skillset and mindset to bounce back from a loss.
Thomas Almeida was once a hot young prospect not unlike Sean O’Malley currently is. Like O’Malley, Almeida enjoyed a lengthy, albeit much longer undefeated stretch. Almeida’s career began with a gaudy 21-0 record before dropping to Cody Garbrandt in 2016. Almeida has not been the same since this loss, dropping three of his last four fights and currently on a three-fight losing streak. Almeida was most recently defeated by Jonathan Martinez last October.
With the addition of this bantamweight bout, the current UFC 260 lineup includes the following bouts:
UFC World Heavyweight Championship Bout: Stipe Miocic (c) vs. Francis Ngannou
UFC Featherweight Championship Bout: Alexander Volkanovsi (c) vs. Brian Ortega
Tyron Woodley vs. Vicente Luque
Sean O’Malley vs. Thomas Almeida
Michal Oleksiejczuk vs. Modestas Bukauskas
Jessica Penne vs. Hannah Goldy
How do you think Sean O’Malley will bounce back from his first professional loss?
