Khashakyan KO’d by O’Malley in Tuesday Night Contender Series
It was the stand-up thrill ride many predicted.
But it was “Sugar” Sean O’Malley who garnered the highlight reel knockout at the expense of Alfred “Fearless” Khashakyan.
Glendale’s Khashakyan, perhaps tasked with his final great opportunity to earn an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract, was knocked out by the undefeated O’Malley via a savage right hand at 4:14 of the first round of their bantamweight bout on Tuesday night at The Ultimate Fighter Gym in Las Vegas as part of “Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series.”
“It felt good, I would’ve been dissappointed in anything else,” said O’Malley, a 22-year-old out of Montana who improved to 8-0, in a postfight interview in the gym. “I come out to fight, I come out to knock people out, that’s all I want to do.”
It was O’Malley’s sixth knockout win and the first knockout loss for Khashakyan (8-4), as the Glendale Fighting Club trainee under Edmond Tarverdyan lost for the second time in three fights, both of them in front of UFC president Dana White.
In August of 2016, Khashakyan lost via submission to Ricardo Lucas Ramos on a card that was filmed for White’s “Lookin’ for a Fight” series, which also airs on UFC Fight Pass like the contender series and likewise searches for new UFC combatants.
It was the second week of the eight-week summer series. In the first episode, White granted two of the five winners contracts, but O’Malley was the only fighter to get a contract on Tuesday.
“O’Malley was in there against a very tough, hard-punching kid,” White said. “He looked fantastic.”
Leading into the fight, Khashakyan, 29, called the bout a “do-or-die” fight.
Khashakyan, at 5 foot 8, was shorter and had a two-inch reach disadvantage against the lanky 5-11 O’Malley. Khashakyan started as the aggressor with one-two combos and pushed O’Malley back, but the southpaw threw a knee to the body that stunned Khashakyan.
As the two continued to exchange, Khashakyan countered a spinning backfirst with a right hook and then a left hook before clinching and taking the fight to the ground. The local began raining down ground and pound punches.
O’Malley was able to work the feet back up to standing and threw some kicks before a good right landed for Khashakyan. O’Malley switched to orthodox and both continued to land well with a cut opening up over Khashakyan’s left eye. O’Malley landed a kick, but Khashakyan countered with a flurry of left and right punches.
O’Malley landed a big right cross that buckled Khashakyan’s knees, put his butt briefly on the canvas and served as the beginning of the end. Khashakyan caught a flying knee and oh-so-briefly took the fight to the ground. O’Malley landed a spinning back fist and then began landing several good right hands. Khashakyan’s legs were clearly wobbly, but he kept bouncing at range before a right straight by O’Malley landed very well. Khashakyan went for a double-leg but was shrugged off.
With his hands dropped to his sides, O’Malley sized up Khashakyan with a mammoth right cross that dropped Khashakyan straight back and brought about an immediate stoppage from referee Mark Smith.
The following week’s lineup was announced at the end of the show and former Glendale Community College football player Alonzo Menifield (3-0) will face Daniel Jolly (5-2) in a light heavyweight bout that is slated to be the second fight of the night.
Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon
