Set to fight up the official bantamweight rankings for the second bout in a row, surging divisional striker, Sean O’Malley, who currently sits at #13 in the official pile, is set to draw the #10 ranked challenger, Pedro Munhoz in a main card opener of UFC 276 on July 2. The event is scheduled to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Montana native, Sean O’Malley is currently riding a three-fight winning spree, having rebounded successfully from his first career loss back at UFC 252 in August 2020 where he dropped a first round ground strikes loss to Marlon Vera.

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Sean O’Malley has been urged to take a significant step up in competition recently

Sean O’Malley most recently featured on the main card of UFC 269 back in December, defeating Munhoz’s compatriot, the then-top-15 ranked, Raulian Paiva with a one-sided first round knockout victory.

For Munhoz, the Sao Paulo veteran most recently suffered his second consecutive Octagon loss – also featuring on that December pay-per-view card, in a unanimous decision defeat against former two-time bantamweight best, Dominick Cruz. ESPN MMA reporter, Brett Okamoto was first to report O’Malley’s return against Munhoz. 

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Before how knockout win over Paiva, O’Malley turned in a bantamweight striking record against short-notice opponent, Kris Moutinho at UFC 264 last July before an eventual third round strikes victory.

The flashy bantamweight striker had successfully returned to the winner’s enclosure against now-promotional alum, Thomas Almeida in March of last year – stopping the Brazilian with a stunning one-punch ground strike knockout win.

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Before his defeat to Cruz, Munhoz had met with former featherweight kingpin, Jose Aldo in an all-Brazilian outing – suffering an August unanimous decision drubbing.

In his most recent victory, Munhoz avenged a prior career loss to Jimmie Rivera, adding him to a résumé which includes prior successes against the likes of Cody Garbrandt, Brett Johns, and recent UFC Vegas 53 main event feature, Rob Font.

Aspiring mixed martial arts reporter based in Ireland. Follow along at @Ross_Markey on Twitter for all the latest news, fight announcements, opinion, and feature pieces.