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Sean O'Malley kept things concise against Raulian Paiva with a first-round TKO win to open up the PPV portion of UFC 269. Fight fans at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas were firmly behind "Suga" as he battered his Brazilian opposition late in the first round.

Smoked, sparked or lit-up, whatever your pun of choice, O'Malley looked impressive in his fight against the formerly-ranked flyweight who moved up to 135 pounds. "Suga" leaned heavily on his outside striking game, sniping Paiva from range with jabs and one-two combinations. Paiva utilized a leg-kick heavy approach, hoping to capitalize on O'Malley's history with leg injuries.

Buoyed by loud chants of "Sean O'Malley" from the Vegas crowd, the 27-year-old came to life with a combination that wobbled his opponent. O'Malley pressed forward patiently, landing precise punches that repeatedly hurt Paiva. Referee Jason Herzog stepped in and waived the fight off just as O'Malley dropped his foe with a violent display.

During his post-fight interview, O'Malley revealed that he was "99%" certain he was going to pull out of the Paiva fight with a rib injury. O'Malley said he was unable to spar or grapple for three weeks leading into the fight. He was only able to run and work his striking combination on mitts.

Paiva (21-4) entered UFC 269 with consecutive wins over Kyler Phillips, Zhalgas Zhumagulov and Mark De La Rosa. O'Malley is the only fighter to stop Paiva clean in the Brazilian's eight years as a pro. Paiva previously lost to Rogério Bontorin in 2019 due to a doctor stoppage.

O'Malley (15-1) has finished his last four wins via strikes and appears to be hovering just outside the UFC bantamweight top 15. He has finished notable fighters like Thomas Almeida and Eddie Wineland since debuting with the company in 2017.

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