UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley will fight for the bantamweight title in the main event at UFC 292 this weekend, and he already has his plans laid out.
O’Malley’s ongoing rivalry with current champ Aljamain Sterling and his teammate Merab Dvalishvili might be entertaining, but “Suga Sean” has other ideas, as he revealed at the pre-fight media day.
Sean O’Malley Lays Out UFC Title Defense Plan
“If you asked me what fight is bigger, me versus ‘Chito’ rematch, or me versus Merab? I’m pretty sure we could all agree on which one is bigger.
I’m in the fight business. I’ve been saying that. I’ve never been afraid to say that. This is a business to me. Who makes more money — me versus Merab or me versus ‘Chito?’ It’s very simple to me.”
O’Malley’s sole loss since his arrival in the UFC was at the hands of Marlon “Chito” Vera, a fan favorite who will face Pedro Munhoz – against whom O’Malley earned a no-contest result – at UFC 292.
O’Malley’s fight against Vera ended badly for “Suga Sean,” who injured his leg early in the fight. This gave Vera the opportunity to land a flurry of devastating elbows and punches on the grounded O’Malley, earning Vera a stoppage win inside the first round.
O’Malley believes the rematch simply must happen, because he thinks the victory doesn’t count. “The rematch needs to happen. Everyone, even ‘Chito’ himself truly knows that wasn’t a win.
I’ve always wanted to get that one back, and they’re like, ‘Why don’t you rematch him right away?’ I’ll do it when the time is right.” O’Malley also has an unimpressive prediction for the Vera vs Munhoz fight.
“God, I want to be like, ‘Yeah, it will be exciting,’ but for some reason, I feel like it’s going to be so boring.
I feel like it’s going to be Pedro kind of not wanting to engage on the outside, trying to kick his legs. ‘Chito,’ we saw his last performance against Cory [Sandhagen]. There’s a possibility it could be a very exciting fight. I feel like it might be really boring.
I’m hoping ‘Chito’ wins. Me versus ‘Chito’ rematch in December, Vegas, title defense. That sounds wonderful. I love that. So ideally ‘Chito.’”
Sean O’Malley has long declared himself a future titleholder. He was a standout on Dana White’s Contender series, turning heads with a crisp, devastating boxing game that earned him several knockout victories on the show.
His most recent fight was was a split decision win over former bantamweight champ Petr Yan, and he will fight for the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 292 this weekend.
