Sean O’Malley is one of the UFC’s brightest prospects, or he would be if he could string together a fight against a serious opponent. In a recent interview with The MMA Hour, O’Malley revealed that he feels he deserves a main event, but he’d need to get paid more to do it.
“I feel like I’m the main draw at 135, I’m the biggest name at 135.
Sean O’Malley Wants Title Shot, More Money
So there’s a lot of sweet, sweet, interesting fights at 135 that I would love to be a part of. Obviously I want to get paid fairly, but yeah, I think I’m not too far off from fighting for the title, main-eventing pay-per-views. It depends. I really want to fight these three fights out and then start talking big names.
I don’t think I should be main-eventing for the money I’m making right now. I think I should be getting paid more, so we’ll see.”
O’Malley recently found himself in the UFC’s bad books when he called matchmaker Sean Shelby out for failing to book him in big enough fights. However, O’Malley has mellowed on the issue, and stressed that he wants to remain with the promotion and make the best choices for his career.
“To be honest, I feel like I’m one of the biggest stars in the UFC, and if you see what I make, it doesn’t show that.
But also I understand that UFC gives me a platform to go out there and be able to sell merch, to be able to get all these sponsors. It gives me eyeballs for YouTube, Twitch, merch, all these other things.”
Like the UFC’s wealthiest athlete, Conor McGregor, O’Malley makes most of his money outside of fighting.
“So I’m not getting paid directly from UFC a lot, but I am getting eyeballs. I’m getting money outside of it from the UFC. So it’s kind of a hit-or-miss perspective thing. I try to choose to look at it like I’m not making the money I believe I’m worth, but I’m also making money on the outside doing other things from the UFC.
So it depends how you look at it, but yeah, I think if I’m going to make the money I’m making right now, why go out there and fight the toughest guys in the world? Why not fight these three fights fighting not-the-toughest-guys in the world, renegotiate my contract, and then make real money fighting real tough guys?
Kris Moutinho was a tough guy. Eddie Wineland was a tough guy. Thomas Almeida was a tough guy. I don’t know. To me, it’s just like I love fighting and it’s a business. I’m trying to make the right decisions.”
Do you think Sean O’Malley is going about things the right way if he wants to make the big bucks the UFC offers?
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