Sean O’Malley Wants to Be ‘As Big As Conor McGregor’ Ahead of First Title Defense
If you’re going to dream, dream big… as the old saying goes.
For Sean O’Malley, that means becoming ‘as big as Conor McGregor’ in terms of global notoriety, given that the love-him-or-hate-him Irishman is undoubtedly the biggest draw in MMA today.
But first, the 29-year-old must successfully defend his bantamweight title for the first time – against the man that handed O’Malley his only defeat in mixed martial arts so far.
Revenge or Repeat?
To offer a glimpse of how the careers of O’Malley and Marlon Vera have panned out since their original 2020 contest, the former is the -200 favorite for the rematch for those who bet on sports – despite the fact that he was blasted out in the first round of that original encounter.
All of the build-up to their second coming-together on March 10 will be tracked on sites like Paddy Power news, but for now O’Malley is doing all of the talking.
The colorfully coiffured champion, who comprehensively stripped Aljamain Sterling of his gold back in August, is keen to establish himself as one of the UFC’s most notorious pugilists given his new status as a title holder.
SEAN O’MALLEY KNOCKS OUT ALJAMAIN STERLING 😱
WE HAVE A NEW BANTAMWEIGHT WORLD CHAMP #UFC292 pic.twitter.com/imITCioq49
— UFC (@ufc) August 20, 2023
And he’s not exactly shy in promoting his own brand of self-confidence. “I think if I go out there and put two beautiful performances together in 2024, I will be as big as Conor McGregor,” O’Malley said recently.
With the Irishman himself poised to make his long-awaited return to the Octagon this year, he could face competition for the unofficial title of the UFC’s hardest-working mouthpiece…
Clash of Styles
A brash talker outside of the Octagon and a knockout specialist inside of it – six of his ten UFC fights have ended in a KO victory, you can see why O’Malley considers himself to be box-office material… and why many tend to agree with him.
But his big-hitting exploits will be put to the test by Vera in March, given that the Ecuadorian has never suffered an early loss in the entirety of his UFC career – and that dates all the way back to 2014.
Vera has tasted defeat on eight occasions during his MMA career, including losses to Jose Aldo, Song Yadong and Cory Sandhagen in the UFC. But all of them have come via the judges’ cards, which suggests that O’Malley will need to create history by being the first to prematurely end a scrap with the 31-year-old, or he will need to showcase superior skills on the mat to have his hand raised in victory.
O’MALLEY vs VERA!!!! pic.twitter.com/VEm0bWPBFo
— danawhite (@danawhite) November 8, 2023
O’Malley will have the height and reach advantage over Vera, but the Ecuadorian will likely weigh in as the heavier of the two – that could lead to a long night on the mat for O’Malley if he is unable to keep his opponent at striking range.
There are those who believe Petr Yan, a strong grappler in his own right, actually beat O’Malley in their October 2022 contest, with a remarkable 25 of the 26 media representatives present scoring the victory in Yan’s favor – the judges’, on the other hand, disagreed, and ultimately that’s all that matters.
So there’s the potential for a cautionary tale here when O’Malley collides with his old nemesis: don’t write checks that your body can’t cash. But if ‘Sugar’ is true to his word, it will make his first title defense all the sweeter.
