Malcolm Wellmaker Wants to Prove He Has More Power Than Sean O'Malley

Malcolm Wellmaker (9-0) wants to flatten Kris Moutinho to prove (14-6) that he has more power than Sean O'Malley. 

Wellmaker will take on Moutinho in front of a home crowd at UFC Atlanta on Saturday at the State Farm Arena. This marks Moutinho's return to the UFC after a brief two-fight stint in 2021-22. Moutinho took his first fight against O’Malley on 11 days’ notice. O’Malley landed a total of 230 significant strikes, the most ever in a three-round UFC bantamweight fight. However, Moutinho showed immense heart in continuing to go forward despite taking damage before being stopped with 27 seconds left on the clock. 

Wellmaker noted that O’Malley, a knockout artist, couldn’t put Moutinho out cold. Now, Wellmaker, a knockout artist in his own right, wants to put Moutinho to sleep to prove a point.

“Do I have more power than Sean O’Malley? So I’m on a mission to show the world that I can hit harder than him,” Wellmaker told Carlo Perruzza. “So I get the opportunity to crack somebody that he couldn’t put out cold, when he’s put many bantamweights out cold. And if I do this, I think that’s gonna put a very nice asterisk next to my power, as having the power that Sean O’Malley doesn’t have.”

Moutinho suffered a knockout loss against Guido Cannetti before being released from the UFC. However, the 32-year-old has since bounced back with five consecutive finishes on the regional circuit to get another UFC call. 

Meanwhile, Wellmaker has finished seven of his nine pro wins — five of them via knockout. Despite earning his contract with a knockout on Dana White's Contender Series last year, the undefeated prospect was a welder by day until recently. However, that changed with a bonus-winning knockout win over Cameron Saimaan in his UFC debut this past April. 

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