Sean O’Malley is no stranger to mental gymnastics, but in a recent appearance on The Schmo, he may have taken the biggest stretch of his short MMA career. While discussing his competition in the UFC’s bantamweight division, O’Malley dismissed Pedro Munhoz and Dominick Cruz, declaring himself the “unranked champ”.
“[Cruz] messed up. I called out him and Pedro Munhoz and now they’re on the prelims. I guess it doesn’t really matter.
“Suga” Sean O’Malley declares himself “unranked champ”
They’re gonna get paid the same whether they’re on the main card or the prelims, I’m gonna get paid the same whether I’m opening up the main card or the prelims, so as far as making money, it doesn’t really matter but for your ego, that’s got to hurt. Being talked about as one of the best bantamweights ever and you’re on the prelims. I don’t even know if he’s headlining the prelims.
Prelim Pedro vs. Dominick, it just makes sense down there. I haven’t talked to anybody that’s super excited for that fight. They’re both top-10 I’m pretty sure and me and Paiva aren’t even ranked and we’re opening up the main card, so I think it just goes to show I’m the unranked champ.”
The UFC has been pushing Sean O’Malley as a future star in recent years, granting the upstart bantamweight spots on the undercard for pay-per-view events including McGregor vs Poirier. His next fight, against Raulian Paiva, will take place at UFC 269, and O’Malley expects to cruise to yet another highlight-reel knockout victory.
Curiously, Sean O’Malley is happy to bury the hatchet with former bantamweight champ, current flyweight contender, and fellow tattoo enthusiast Cody Garbrandt.
“He’s a flyweight now. There’s no beef. You can’t pick beef with someone below your weight class. That’s just not what you do, so there should be nothing there. He’s a flyweight now, I’m a bantamweight, so I think it should be nothing.”
Sean O’Malley’s technical, finish-oriented boxing style is grabbing headlines whenever he fights, but the young fighter’s brash, cocky persona outside the Octagon is earning him the big bucks. O’Malley is still a few fights away from headlining a main event, even if he considers himself the “unranked champ” and one of the biggest names in the division.
Of course, the likes of Jose Aldo, Aljamain Sterling, and Petr Yan stand between him and the bantamweight belt, but for now O’Malley seems happy to take on unranked opponents.
Do you agree that Sean O’Malley is king of the unranked bantamweights? Let us know in the comments.
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