Sean O’Malley’s head coach Tim Welch has revealed an unlikely secret weapon behind his student’s rise in the UFC: a passion for Call of Duty.
Speaking on The Mighty Cast with Demetrious Johnson, Welch opened up about the tools and habits that have helped shape O’Malley into one of the most dangerous athletes in the division. Among the more surprising revelations was the role that gaming plays in keeping O’Malley’s reflexes razor sharp.
“His reaction time is really good,” Welch said. “I think Call of Duty helps a little bit too.”
Welch was not simply joking. He went on to explain that O’Malley’s eyes and reaction time have been consistently tested and that the results speak for themselves inside the octagon.
“When he gets his eyes checked, he has some of the best eyes,” Welch noted.
The comments came in the context of discussing O’Malley’s dominant five-round performance over Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in his first title defense. Welch broke down the game plan in detail, explaining how the team targeted Vera’s conditioning in the later rounds through early body work.
“We knew his last seven matches he gives away the first round,” Welch said. “Those body sh0ts early on really added up for that fourth and fifth round. When he wanted to pick it up, he didn’t have the same juice.”
The coaching philosophy throughout the match was one of patience and precision rather than aggression for its own sake.
“Sean hurts somebody almost every match,” Welch explained. “You make the read, if he’s really hurt you try to put him away, but don’t try to knock him out. Just touch his face the whole five rounds and it ended up working out good.”
Welch also highlighted how O’Malley’s natural instincts sometimes override corner instructions, recalling the fifth round when he advised O’Malley to play it safe and move around. O’Malley ignored the advice and pressed forward, ultimately proving himself right.
“Sean’s such a showman,” Welch said. “He wants to put somebody away, so when he’s sitting in the pocket, I’m like, well, I guess he’s sitting in the pocket then.”
As for the gaming habits, Welch sees no reason to change anything that is clearly working.
