UFC fan favourite Sean O’Malley has claimed his opponent Pedro Munhoz was exaggerating his eye injury after their UFC 276 bout was abruptly called off following an accidental eye poke.
The incident happened midway through the second round and despite Munhoz protesting that O’Malley had committed multiple fouls, referee Jason Herzog called it a no contest.
According to the judges' scorecards, Munhoz had actually won the first round, however, following the fight O’Malley claimed Munhoz was clearly looking for a way out, claiming that he had barely poked his opponent’s eye.
Asked if he believed Munhoz was looking for an easy way out, O’Malley replied: “100 per cent that’s what’s going on in my mind.”
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He added: “I was piecing him up, I didn’t get hit once.
“He came in there and said ‘I’m going to kick his legs and take him down’, he tried kicking my legs and it damaged him more.
“He couldn’t get me up against the fence and couldn’t take me down.
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“I was dominating that fight.”
O’Malley did seem to be controlling the second round before the alleged eye-poke happened, and claimed he felt like he had already won the contest when asked if the fight would be rescheduled.
He continued: “It’s a weird feeling because I do feel like I won the fight, but it’s not the emotions of winning the fight.
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“I was winning the fight. I literally didn’t get hit.”
He then questioned the judges' scorecard on the first round claiming the decision to award it to Munhoz made ‘zero sense’.
Whilst he may have claimed he didn’t feel the emotions of winning the fight that certainly didn’t stop him from going out in Las Vegas and celebrating like he had claimed victory.
‘Sugar’ was a special guest at Zouk Night Club where he strolled up wearing pink slippers and a dressing gown.
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He even had the legendary Michael Buffer announce him to the stage at the club as he stood on top of the DJ decks and soaked in the mixed reaction.
The next day he took the opportunity to troll Munhoz, posting a video to his Instagram story with his right eye closed.
He mocked the Brazilian, saying: “Hey guys, sorry my fight didn’t go as planned. I got my f***ing poked.”
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Despite the allegations of a feigned injury, Munhoz released a video on Instagram in his native Portuguese clarifying that he had suffered a corneal abrasion from the poke, according to ESPN.
He said: “I couldn't see anything for 20 minutes. I was taken to the hospital, and they used a special eyedrop that made my eye numb so they could open my eye.
“They did an exam, and the medical report I have is that there's a scratch in the cornea all the way around it.
“I couldn't open my eye because of that and couldn't see anything.”
Jayden Collins