The rising star of high-level bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley was on full display to open the main card of UFC 264, as he took care of newcomer Kris Moutinho and scored a stoppage win. Perhaps the most notable talking point of the fight, though, was the grit and perseverance of Moutinho, who took the bout on eleven days’ notice to replace Louis Smolka. Herb Dean might have saved the promotional newcomer from himself at the tail end of the third and final round, stopping the show at the 4:33 mark. 

Moutinho (9-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) absorbed over two hundred significant strikes from O’Malley (14-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC), who might not have expected his opponent to stay with him as long as he did. He ate power punch after power punch and kept pushing on. In fact, he was still standing tall when referee Dean finally decided he had seen enough. O’Malley was never in any kind of trouble, but it seemed for a few moments that no matter what he did, he wasn’t going to be able to get Moutinho out of there. During his post-fight remarks, O’Malley referred to Moutinho as ‘a tough motherf*****’ and praised him for taking on the challenge with such short notice to work with. Previous opponents which had emerged to replace Smolka, including veteran Ricky Simon, ultimately proved unable to make the 135-pound bantamweight limit on time. 

There is ample truth in O’Malley’s words, as his opponent amazed fans with his toughness. Both O’Malley and Moutinho were ultimately awarded the Fight of the Night bonus, which for UFC 264 was increased to $75,000 from the usual $50,000. The bonus payday is certainly a nice addition to what can be considered a relative success for Kris Moutinho, who stood in the Octagon with a lethal competitor and made a great many new fans with his full-of-heart performance. 

O’Malley took the opportunity after the slugfest to call out a number of top bantamweight contenders, including the legendary Dominick Cruz, whom he accused of ducking him. One can imagine that Moutinho did enough with his chance to at least earn a second showcase under the UFC banner.