The UFC’s second post-corona pay-per-view event had plenty of highlight reel action, with both Cody Garbrandt and Sean O’Malley securing knockout of the year level KO’s. Amanda Nunes cruised to a unanimous decision win over Felicia Spencer, dominating both on the feet and on the ground. Nunes was never troubled or fatigued, sailing to what was arguably her most dominant title defense.
An emotional moment took place earlier in the night, when Cody Stamann defeated Brian Kelleher via unanimous decision. Just three days before the fight, Stamann’s younger brother Jacob unexpectedly passed away at the age of 18. Despite the tragedy, Stamann was adamant in his desire to compete at UFC 250. “That kid loved watching me fight. He’s gotta be one of my biggest fans” Stamann said to MMA Junkie. “It’s devastating, but I still have a job to do. You know, keep my head in a good place and do everything I can to honor him by being the best man I can be now,” he continued.
Stamman was brought to tears following the victory. “I have so much f***in respect for him showing up like this,” Kelleher said to Stamman’s corner.
On the fighting side, both Cody Garbrandt and Sean O’Malley each secured knockout of the year level KO’s. O’Malley secured his less than two minutes into the fight for yet another first round stoppage.
“Sugar Sean” floored UFC veteran Eddie Wineland with a devastating right. The contact was clearly audible and Wineland was essentially rag dolled.
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O’Malley called for a main event in his post-fight presser. “It’s kind of up to the UFC. A main event almost sounds right. It sounds like something that should probably get done. We’ll see,” he said to reporters.
The knockout of Wineland was enough to secure Sean O’Malley his second consecutive “Performance of the Night” bonus and third straight bonus in general following a FOTN with Andre Soukhamthath back in 2018. O’Malley asked for a $100,000 bonus as opposed to the customary 50.
Cody Garbrandt also secured a performance bonus for his buzzer beater KO of Raphael Assuncao. The victory marked the first for Cody Garbrandt since December, 2016, when he defeated Dominick Cruz to become the Bantamweight Champion. Cody “No Love” was then KO’d twice in a row by his heated rival T.J. Dillashaw in back-to-back title fights. Last night was the first appearance for Cody Garbrandt since March of last year, where he was KO’d by Pedro Munhoz in a wild one round fight.
It was smooth sailing for Cody Garbrandt last night, however, as his movement was as slick as ever en-route to a second round, buzzer beater KO. Garbrandt took advantage of a last second miss by Assuncao, never taking his eyes off the target while landing a powerful right. Assuncao folded face first, causing Keith Peterson to stop the fight as the horn sounded at the end of the second round.
Garbrandt also secured a Performance of the Night bonus for his KO and called for a bantamweight tournament on fight island. “Let’s do a bantamweight tournament, let’s get us in there,” he said following the fight. “Let’s get this battle, get this tournament and see who the real champion is. Let’s go back to the old-school days.”
Petr Yan is currently set to face Jose Aldo for the bantamweight belt at an unconfirmed date, Dana White re-affirmed yesterday.