"A star is born! " – MMA community reacts to Malcolm Wellmaker's vicious KO win at UFC Atlanta 

Malcolm Wellmaker secured a second consecutive knockout victory in the octagon when he faced off against Kris Moutinho at UFC Atlanta on June 15. The bantamweight prospect has won his last three fights via the same punch, a right hook. Following his recent win, fans and fighters flooded social media to share their praise for the potential UFC star.

His opponent was making a return to the octagon having previously competed against Sean O'Malley at UFC 264. The bout was infamous for O'Malley's significant strike count, as he landed 230 strikes over the three-round fight. Wellmaker, instead, secured a Round 1 knockout.

Check out the finishing sequence below (via @ChampRDS):

Following the result, former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo took to X to share his thoughts, writing:

"A star is born! Malcolm Wellmaker is legit"

Former UFC lightweight title challenger Renato Moicano reacted to Moutinho's return by writing:

"Bro wtf did they hire Moutinho again? Just to see him get beat like that again?! Evil sh*t"

Fans also took to X to share their reactions to the brutal knockout, with one fan demanding Wellmaker be given the next title shot against champion Merab Dvalishvili:

"Just give him a title shot"

Another fan poked fun at O'Malley's inability to finish Moutinho, writing:

"Just how bad is Sean O'Malley"

While @3lectricBrawl wrote:

"Sean weakened his chin"

Other fans wrote:

"Wow knocked him out cold, make him fight O'Malley"

"The right hook was insane. He charged that sh*t up like a video game punch"

Check out more fan reactions below:

Screenshots of fan reactions to Wellmaker's KO win over Moutinho

Malcolm Wellmaker has competed twice in the span of three months, having knocked out Cameron Saaiman at UFC Kansas City in April. Having picked up no visible damage in his win over Moutinho, the surging contender will likely return to the octagon soon.