LAS VEGAS – Sean O’Malley doesn’t think Kris Moutinho is getting enough credit as a legitimate opponent on short notice at UFC 264.
O’Malley (13-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) was originally slated to fight Louis Smolka in a bantamweight bout on Saturday’s card, but he was forced to withdraw and replaced by Moutinho (9-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who will be making his octagon debut at the event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
The matchup was met with criticism from a section of fans and media, mainly because a number of fighters who are established at 135 pounds offered to step in. O’Malley said he was ready to fight anyone, but his condition was that it had to be at bantamweight.
Ricky Simon was the frontrunner initially, but O’Malley said it didn’t come to fruition because he was overweight.
“They sent me a list of a couple guys, Simon being one of them,” O’Malley told MMA Junkie at UFC 264 media day on Thursday. “I told them, ‘I want to stay on the card. I’ve had a great camp and my weight is trending towards a bantamweight fight. Find me someone that can make ’35.’ They sent me a list of names, Simon was the toughest one on there and I picked him. They called me and said. ‘He can’t make weight.’ I don’t know if it was a miscommunication that they put his name in there, for ’45. I told the UFC, I was pretty clear that I want to fight at ’35. So, I dunno. There’s a lot of people on Twitter that called me out that weren’t on that list. I’m just happy I’m on the card at ’35.”
Ultimately Moutinho was the man to get the fight, and O’Malley said the narrative he’s fighting a “can” is unfair. He’s started to do his research on his upcoming foe, and has come to find out that “it’s still going to be a tough fight.” Because of that O’Malley is taking it seriously.
“A lot of people think it’s a lose-lose for me,” O’Malley said. “I make a lot of money to go out there and knock the guy (out). This guy’s tough. I watched one of his fights this morning and he’s not just a scrub, he’s not a nobody. Well, he is kind of a nobody because no one really knows who he is. But to be fair, not a lot of people know who Simon is, really. He’s beat a couple dudes in the UFC. I couldn’t tell you how many fights he’s had in the UFC. So he comes in there, he shocks the world, it’s a huge fight for him. Props to him for stepping up to take it.”
Although O’Malley is treating Moutinho with respect, it doesn’t mean he expects it to be particularly competitive inside the octagon. O’Malley has every intention of opening the pay-per-view main card with a highlight-reel finish and said after that he has plans to call out a big name in his weight class.
“He might go in there thinking it’s a win-win for him,” O’Malley said. “He goes out there and loses, he’s in the UFC. But I don’t just knock people out. I change people’s careers. Mentally, the way I knock people out, they step into that cage and they’re different the next time they get out there. So it could be the beginning of his career or it could be the end of his career. So, we’ll see.”
Sean O’Malley defends UFC 264 matchup with newcomer Kris Moutinho: ‘He’s not just a scrub’