Sean O’Malley hits back at Alexandre Pantoja with knockout sparring claim
Associated PressSean O’Malley has responded to Alexandre Pantoja’s claim that he rocked him in a sparring session six years ago, something which the latter insists was caught on camera.
Pantoja has opened up on his ongoing feud with O’Malley and stated that he “smashed” him when they first sparred in preparation for his UFC debut.
“Before I start talking about O’Malley,” Pantoja said. “He talked first about me. I don’t understand how he started talking, because I sparred with him like six years ago for my first UFC fight, and he said some bad things about that.”
Pantoja then explained that the session was being filmed, but he never got sent a clip of the incident.
“He [O’Malley] never passed the training [footage] to me. And I asked [if they can] talk with your friend to send the video. And they all said to me ‘He’s not going to send [it] to you, bro, you smashed him. He’s not going to send it to you.'”
O’Malley – the current UFC bantamweight champion – caught wind of Pantoja’s comments and replied with a different version of events, simply saying, “Twas a first round TKO.”
The two have traded several shots in their years-long feud. Pantoja notably called O’Malley a “punk guy” who “makes tattoos, smokes weed, thinks he’s a gangster,” in a previous interview from 2021.
In 2023, O’Malley responded to the Brazilian’s initial accusation about the training session by affirming that he was actually the one who put a beatdown on Pantoja. He admitted to being inebriated and out of shape beforehand and still getting the better of Pantoja in the first round.
His latest post doubles down on that claim. Albeit, the chances that they fight in a UFC showdown are unlikely at the moment, as O’Malley, the No. 6 ranked fighter in the promotion, fights at 10 pounds heavier than the No. 10 ranked fighter, Pantoja.
