Watch: Young Sean O’Malley ‘TKO's’ Future UFC Champ in Released Sparring Footage

Ask, and you shall receive.

Oct 22, 2022; Abu Dhabi, UAE; Sean O'Malley (blue gloves) defeats Petr Yan (red gloveS) during UFC / Craig Kidwell-USA TODAY Sports

A rivalry has been brewing between Alexandre Pantoja and Sean O'Malley for quite some time now, and it started long before they became neighboring UFC Champions. In 2016, the future stars aligned for a sparring session in Arizona, which both fighters claim they had success in.

Following his flyweight title win last year, Pantoja expressed interest in moving up a weight class just for a fight with O'Malley, as he never posted their full sparring footage to the world. O'Malley did admit he was choked by the submission specialist in the third round of their training, but pointed out that he had finished the Pantoja in the opening round.

UFC News: Merab Dvalishvili Targets Coach after Sean O'Malley Title Fight

After all of these years, "Suga" released a teaser of his sparring session with Pantoja, later calling his bluff:

"I see O'Malley post the video, and that's so embarrassing because he posted like 10 seconds [of] the sparring video," Pantoja said on UFC Unfiltered on Wednesday (h/t: Champ RDS) "If you have the video, send the whole video not just your best moment. He wants to create something, let's create that. He wants to fight with me I can fight with him, because I'm not afraid."

"This guy doesn't stop," O'Malley responded to Pantoja on 'X'. "He's forcing me to post it."

🤣🤣 this guy doesn’t stop. He’s forcing me to post it https://t.co/hU9dT1jXsH

— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) May 10, 2024

And that's exactly what O'Malley did. On Friday, the UFC Bantamweight Champion decided to upload another snippet of his past sparring footage with Pantoja that sees "The Cannibal" eat a nasty body kick. Pantoja tries to shake it off by circling the cage but eventually wilts, wanting no more from O'Malley. Pantoja yelled "F***" in frustration as O'Malley walked away.

"1st round Tko 2016. undefeated. Henry [Cejudo] in his corner he was crying," O'Malley wrote.

1st round Tko 2016. undefeated. Henry in his corner he was crying. pic.twitter.com/MUmwTsUMN1

— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) May 10, 2024

Of course, the 21-second video of the highlight doesn't tell the full story of the sparring session, and we might never see the video in its entirety as only O'Malley has his hands on it. Still, it was impressive nonetheless from a 21-year-old O'Malley who was 4-0 as a pro at the time.

Pantoja had won the RFA Flyweight title the year before, and in 2016, he was on season 24 of "The Ultimate Fighter", competing against other world champions for a shot at then-champion Demetrious Johnson.

UFC St. Louis: Derrick Lewis vs. Nascimento How to Watch, TV Channel, Full Card & Betting Odds

Both world champions now, Sean O'Malley has one title defense under his bantamweight belt while Brazil's Alexandre Pantoja has two at flyweight, the division below.

Stick with MMA Knockout for daily coverage of the UFC, MMA, WWE, and AEW. Follow MMA Knockout on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.