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• Updated Jun 14, 2026 at 11:31pm

Sean O’Malley is back in title contention. The former champion took out Aiemann Zahabi in the second round via TKO during the UFC Freedom 250 event.

For O’Malley, the task was pretty simple: a win would very likely secure him a rematch against Petr Yan for the title. Opponent Zahabi was riding a seven-fight winning streak going into the fight with O’Malley and looked to secure himself a title shot as well. Unfortunately for the Canadian, he was stopped in the second round.

O’Malley Looks Ready For Another Title Shot

Zahabi was circling at the beginning of the fight. O’Malley was looking at how Zahabi moved. Both guys were trying to find their range. O’Malley was walking forward while Zahabi was mostly backing up to keep the American at a distance. Zahabi landed a couple of leg kicks, but he kept walking backwards. Not much happened besides some single actions from both guys with very little effect. O’Malley ended the round with a couple of good shots to Zahabi’s face.

Zahabi kept tagging the leg of O’Malley also in the second round. The American fighter tried to close the distance with Zahabi, but wasn’t able to do that often. O’Malley did touch Zahabi in the face halfway through the second round in the face. Zahabi’s nose started bleeding, but besides some single shots from O’Malley and low kicks from Zahabi, not much was happening. Zahabi’s kicks kept landing, but it didn’t seem to bother O’Malley too much. Out of nowhere, O’Malley landed a left hand that put Zahabi down. Zahabi tried to recover but got down immediately again after a right hand from O’Malley. The American walked off and got the win. A great finish by the former champion.

Full Results UFC Freedom 250

Main Card 

• Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje
• Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane
• Sean O’Malley def. Aiemann Zahabi via TKO (punches) – R2, 4:02.
• Josh Hokit def. Derrick Lewis via TKO (punches) – R2, 4:09.
• Mauricio Ruffy def. Michael Chandler via TKO (punches) – R1, 4:29.
• Bo Nickal def. Kyle Daukaus via TKO (punches) – R1, 4:34.
• Diego Lopes def. Steve Garcia via KO (punches) – R2, 2:42.