With a sport like mixed martial arts, there will always be new entrants hoping to make a name for themselves. However, not all immediately catch your attention quite like fighters Sean O’Connell and Ben Nguyen.
Sean O’Connell may have been in the game a bit longer than Nguyen, but he’s only now starting to carve out a name for himself. He’s won against some pretty big names, including Matt Van Buren, but he has yet to achieve a certain level of recognition.
“If you watch the (Fight Night Boston) post-fight presser, when (UFC President) Dana White announced the bonuses, he kept referring to our fight as the Van Buren fight,” O’Connell said in a recent interview. “Matt Van Buren was in the fight, but I won the fight. That’s the next big hurdle to overcome. It’s a nice little piece of motivation.”
His next match will happen this Saturday, May 9 for UFC Fight Night Adelaide in Australia against Anthony Perosh on the main card. This news may have startled O’Connell, but he was quick to joke. “I’ll have to o forge a new birth certificate and add Ryan on there,” O’Connell said in a recent interview after learning that the only fighters to beat Perosh in the last four years all had the first name Ryan.
Up next on our watch is flyweight Ben Nguyen who recently won a fight against Julian Rabaud. Spectators may have thought this match-up would put the serious hurt on Nguyen, especially after being repeatedly taunted by the more experienced fighter. However, come fight night, Nguyen only needed 25 seconds to knock his opponent out.
In an interview after the fight, Nguyen said, “It came out of the blue and took the world by surprise and took me by surprise. I woke up and I was like ‘holy crap, over a million views.’” But this rookie is far from a one-hit wonder. Already, his record sits at 12-5, with six of those wins consecutive. He will make his official UFC debut during the prelims of UFC Fight Night Adelaide, going up against Alptekin Ozkilic.
While Ozkilic may be favored to win, Sioux Falls native Nguyen has been living in Brisbane, Australia, for the past few years and is confident the people of Australia will be rooting for him when the time comes.
Source: UFC.com
