Sean O’Malley is one of the most exciting UFC prospects on the roster. He is also already one of the organization’s biggest stars.
O’Malley has been in the UFC since 2017 and has come a long way since his debut at the Dana White’s Contender series. While he has plenty of fans, his detractors often criticize him for taking the easier route. O’Malley has been fighting unranked opponents and was quoted saying he would not be headlining a card on the money his current UFC contract brings in. In addition to this O’Malley also angered UFC match makers once he refused to fight in New York – where he would be looking at an additional income tax.
Regardless of the politics, podcaster Joe Rogan says he is a big fan of “Sugar” Sean O’Malley.
On his podcast, Rogan had this to say about the UFC fighter:
“Here’s a young kid that’s learning the sport, while we’re watching him on the UFC. That’s what’s crazy about him. I mean you go back to Dana White’s Contender show, and he was looser, wilder, you know, fun to watch, but not nearly as sharp.”
Rogan then continued: “like now, he’s on a completely different level. Knocking out Wineland like that faking the uppercut and then just following over the top of the straight right hand and catching him slipping, I mean that was fantastic.”
One year ago today, Sean O’Malley slept Eddie Winelandhttps://t.co/4aqlg1MsSg
— Alex Behunin (@AlexBehunin) June 6, 2021
Since facing Wineland, O’Malley is 3-1 in the UFC.
Many speculate that it is time for O’Malley to start facing ranked fighters as he climbs his way up the rankings.
O’Malley has publicly opposed the idea of fighting top-10 fighters, saying that he “gets paid the same” to fight ranked or unranked fighters.
“Next fight, a lot of people want me to fight someone ranked,” said O’Malley during an interview for the “No Jumper” podcast.
“They wanted me to fight someone ranked last fight. I was supposed to fight Louis Smolka (at UFC 264). For me, I have a contract to fight a certain amount of fights, and I’m gonna get paid a certain amount of money whether I fight Louis Smolka, the dude I was supposed to fight, or I fight Petr Yan, the No. 1 bantamweight in the UFC. I get paid the same./”
“I’m gonna fight this dude (who is lower on the ranks).”
“And I’m going to fight this dude on a Conor McGregor pay-per-view.”
Regardless of how we feel about O’Malley, we can’t help but wonder what the UFC would look like if more of the fighters tried to make the most of the low ball contracts they’re on.