Looking back in history, people like Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, and Rampage Jackson come to mind when you think of recognizable faces in the UFC. When thinking of the current crop, Conor McGregor, Francis Ngannou, and Khabib Nurmagomedov will be in most people’s thoughts. With his ever-changing hair color and rise to dominance in the UFC Bantamweight division, Sean O’Malley has now entered the frame. Whether people want to admit it or not, ‘Suga’ is a huge star in the world of MMA and commands a young and growing fanbase.
Proving the doubters wrong
Winning the title against Aljamain Sterling will undoubtedly have been gratifying for O’Malley, but as gratifying as gaining redemption over Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera, the man who has inflicted the only defeat on O’Malley’s record? ‘Not quite,’ according to the champion. He went into the fight with Sterling as the huge underdog, as opposed to going into his first title defense as the favorite.
O’Malley likes to prove the doubters wrong, clearly. Although he was the bookies’ pick to win last Saturday at UFC 299, his victory would have silenced some of the remaining doubters.
The UFC’s return to Miami drew a big gate, $14 million, making it the fourth-largest in the promotion’s history. Although it was a stacked card, a record like that would only be possible if a big star was headlining the show; O’Malley is that star. His rise through the rankings has been a gradual one, given that he was reluctant to take on people ranked above him while he was still on a ‘rookie contract,’ so to speak.
It’s hard to blame him for that, and in hindsight, now that he’s champion, it was an intelligent move from ‘Suga.’ He bided his time and didn’t want to get thrown to the wolves too soon. Doing so is risky, but we’ve seen time and again that the UFC matches up-and-comers with highly ranked opponents in a bid to turn their new hot ticket into a superstar, and often, it backfires. O’Malley would have been aware of that and decided to show patience, which has boded well for him.
O’Malley’s rise to the top
O’Malley didn’t always take the ‘easy’ approach. At UFC 280, he fought the number one contender, Petr Yan, despite having only fought one top-ten contender previously. The gamble paid off, and the split-decision victory earned him a title shot. The rest, as they say, is history.
Fresh from his dominant victory over Chito Vera, Ariel Helwani asked O’Malley if he felt he was the new face of the UFC: “Humbly, I would say yeah. I think my next fight, whoever it is with, is going to be the biggest fight of the year,” said O’Malley.
Whether he’s the biggest star on the active roster or not is up for debate, but O’Malley is certainly up there. His credentials aren’t in doubt, especially when considering his last three performances: a victory over the favored Petr Yan, a knockout over the dominant champion, Aljamain Sterling, and a clinical showing in his first title defense against Marlon Vera.
O’Malley’s personality is colorful, brash, and in your face, much like his fighting style.
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