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Sean O’Malley has proclaimed himself as the 'Recovery King' in the aftermath of his UFC 276 fight against Pedro Munhoz. ‘Sugar’ faced Munhoz in a pivotal bantamweight matchup at UFC 276 on July 2nd.
The closely-contested showdown ended in an NC (No Contest) in round two after an eye poke from O’Malley rendered Munhoz unable to continue. Regardless, O’Malley maintains that he defeated Munhoz.
Following his fight at UFC 276, the colorful-haired KO artist made an Instagram post that featured a photo of him in a pool of water. In the image, ‘Sugar’ appears to be smoking what is believed to be marijuana.
O’Malley has long been a vocal advocate of marijuana usage. The 27-year-old is known to utilize it as part of the recovery process after his training sessions and fights. He attached the following statement alongside the photo:
“Recovery King @kingpalm”
In response to O’Malley labeling himself the 'Recovery King', MMA fans chimed in with varying opinions. As seen in the comments section of his Instagram post, some lauded ‘Sugar’ for taking minimal damage in the Munhoz matchup. Meanwhile, others lobbed complaints at O’Malley over what they perceived as a fairly uneventful fight.
One fan noted:
“Recovery from checking every leg kick? Surely not.”
Check out screenshots of a few reactions to O’Malley’s “Recovery King” claims below:
Brendan Schaub explains why UFC superstar Sean O’Malley should face Pedro Munhoz in a rematch
It’s unclear whether or not the No.13-ranked bantamweight Sean O’Malley will be rebooked to fight the No.9-ranked Pedro Munhoz next. The former is self-admittedly uninterested in facing Munhoz again and has hinted at fighting Henry Cejudo instead. Neither O’Malley nor Munhoz have their respective upcoming matchups and comeback dates officially finalized yet.
Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub has cautioned fan-favorite KO artist O’Malley against moving on from the Munhoz matchup. On The Schaub Show, he indicated that despite Munhoz being an elite opponent, their matchup didn’t give his younger opponent enough experience in elite-level fighting. Noting that this could hurt ‘Sugar’, Schaub called for an O’Malley-Munhoz rematch and said:
"Now we move on, and I think that's actually a problem for 'Sugar' Sean, because if the UFC does go, 'All right we don't redo that. He wants to do someone else in the top 10.' You know, it's gonna be... He didn't even get a taste of those upper-echelon guys. He didn't get a taste."
Watch Schaub's assessment below:
