Sean O’Malley scores insane walk-off KO against Aiemann Zahabi at UFC White House

Sean O’Malley delivered on his promise to knock out Aiemann Zahabi at the White House on Sunday.

‘Suga’ got the better of his Canadian opponent in the first round and shook off some damaging leg kicks in the second five minutes to knock Zahabi out cold.

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O’Malley‘s top-ranked bantamweight encounter with Zahabi came after Diego Lopes scored a stunning KO and Mauricio Ruffy proposed to his fiancée after brutally stopping Michael Chandler on the historic evening.

O’Malley seals the deal

With MMA legend Georges St-Pierre and his iconic coach and brother, Firas Zahabi, in his corner, Zahabi was under pressure from the first bell as chants of ‘USA, USA!’ echoed around the South Lawn.

O’Malley kept the pressure on in a largely actionless opening five minutes at the historic UFC Freedom 250 show.

‘Suga’ kept switching stances, working off his jab to force Zahabi, who had brief success with his inside leg kicks early, on the back foot.

Momentum was clearly in the American’s favour heading into round two.

O’Malley found the target with a double jab at the beginning of the second round, but Zahabi was finding success, punishing his opponent’s lead left leg with several kicks.

Zahabi kept landing his kicks over and over, and O’Malley didn’t like it, as he began reacting to all of the Canadian’s blows.

However, with less than a minute to go in the second round, a right hand from O’Malley pierced straight through Zahabi’s guard before a straight left knocked him to the canvas.

O’Malley smelled the finish, followed up with a huge overhand right hand, and the fight was all but over.

It was a cinematic finish, as ‘Suga’ saluted the members of the military in the crowd instantly, knowing he’d got the job done.

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O’Malley had said several times in the build-up to the fight that he would separate Zahabi from his consciousness, and the 31-year-old did exactly that.

Speaking to Joe Rogan after his win, the American expressed his desire to face Petr Yan for the UFC bantamweight title next.

Yan is the current champion of the 135lbs division, having put on the performance of a lifetime to dethrone Merab Dvalishvili of the belt last December.

Dvalishvili had held the belt since winning it from O’Malley at UFC 3026 in 2024.

‘The Machine’ defended it against Umar Nurmagomedov before defeating O’Malley again in a rematch and later retaining it against Cory Sandhagen.

O’Malley, however, has already got a win over Yan in his UFC career and will be confident of delivering the same result in a rematch.

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‘Suga’ defeated Yan by split decision at UFC 280 in October 2022, and it’s clear he only wants the Russian next.