Okay so here’s how I put together that Sean O’Malley Contender Series highlights vid yesterday. Always wanted to do a proper deep dive into those early fights before he blew up, you know? The raw stuff.
Started simple: fired up my laptop around noon feeling kinda bored. Thought, “Right, let’s revisit how ‘Suga’ first turned heads.” Remembered all the hype from those early Contender Series knockouts. Figured finding the actual footage would be the first hurdle. Went searching through my old fight archives folder – total mess honestly, stuff scattered everywhere.
Took ages just finding the right episodes. UFC Fight Pass was acting slow, kept buffering… almost gave up right there. Finally found his Contender Series debut against Alfred Khashakyan. That fight? Pure dynamite. Scrolled through it, remembering that killer one-punch finish. Grabbed that segment.
Next was his fight against Terrion Ware. Had to dig deeper for this one, felt like forever. When I finally loaded it up, HOLY CRAP, that knockout combo with the head kick? Still gives me chills just watching it back. Cut that sequence tight, focused on the impact.
The real headache was his second Contender Series fight against Jose Alberto Quinonez. Found the full fight okay, but the stream quality was rough, and there was this ugly watermark right over the cage! Seriously tried cleaning the footage forever – messing with brightness, contrast, sharpness. Still looked kinda fuzzy, but that KO was too iconic to skip. Kept it in, watermark and all.
Then came the actual editing grind. Opened my editing software (won’t name names, but you know the one). Pulled all the clips onto the timeline. Spent hours just getting the timing right.
- Started with the Khashakyan KO – BAM, straight into the highlight reel vibe.
- Followed with Ware – BANG-BANG, those punches connecting, the kick landing.
- Finished with Quinonez – SLUMP, the final punctuation mark.
Wanted the flow to feel powerful, building up. Added some slow-mo on the big hits – like, really zoomed in on Ware hitting the mat. Tossed in a brief graphic showing his name and record for each fight, nothing fancy. Background track? Something punchy and instrumental, avoids copyright stuff.
Rendered it out late last night. Took three tries! First render crashed halfway. Second had audio glitches. Third one finally worked. Watched the final version around midnight.
Totally worth the hassle. Seeing those three knockouts back-to-back? Just pure, early Sean O’Malley magic. Shows where the “Suga Show” explosion really began. Posted it up this morning, called it “Sean O Malley Contender Series Highlights Knockouts You Must See” because, honestly, if you haven’t seen them properly? You gotta.
