Now that the dust has settled following Sean O’Malley’s phenomenal victory over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292, the new bantamweight champion spoke with Michael Bisping in an interview on his YouTube channel to talk about the fight, how life has been since and his plans going forward.
Sean O’Malley’s mindset
Not many people gave O’Malley much chance at beating Aljamain Sterling, who some consider the greatest bantamweight champion of all time. Bisping asked ‘Sugar’ if becoming the UFC Champion was always something he had envisioned.
”What’s played out so far is literally what I seen (saw) as a 16, 17-year-old kid wanting to be great [and] do big things. I seen it all in my head play out before it happened. Now that it’s all here [being the champion], it feels amazing, but I feel like I truly knew it was all going to happen. I had such a deep belief that it was all going to happen, and I feel like it played such a huge role in it happening” said O’Malley.
Becoming a UFC Champion wasn’t always the goal for Sean O’Malley, though. As a youngster, he dreamed of becoming a star in the National Football League (NFL) but realized as he grew into adolescence that he didn’t have the stature or physical attributes to do so. He turned his attention to kickboxing at the age of sixteen, having never watched it before, and it’s fair to say O’Malley hasn’t looked back since.
A fresh-faced O’Malley had his first professional fight in Mixed Martial Arts at the age of 20 against Josh Reyes, winning via TKO in the first round. His next four fights would all take place in his home state of Montana, and it wasn’t long before the unbeaten O’Malley was offered a spot on Dana White’s Contender Series. With the pressure on ‘Sugar’ to perform as a potential UFC contract beckoned, he didn’t disappoint, knocking out Alfred Khashakyan in the very first round and winning the seal of approval from the UFC President.
”Going into all of my fights, I know I’m capable of making them look bad, whether they’re really good or not. I think it comes from my speed. I always attribute my speed to my success. Aljamain Sterling wasn’t expecting me to be as fast as I was,” reflected O’Malley.
O’Malley believes that his speed prevented Sterling from being able to take him down, and people who have been criticizing Sterling for not turning the fight into a wrestling match don’t know much about fighting. The victory at UFC 292 is even more impressive when you consider that Olympic Gold Medallist Henry Cejudo was taken down four times in his fight with Aljamin Sterling at UFC 288.
Being the champion
One of the benefits of being a UFC Champion is the financials, and some people deal with the newfound money and fame differently. A benefit that O’Malley has is that, thanks to his marketability and astute business ventures, he is already accustomed to both, noting that he had a Lamborghini before even breaking into the UFC’s top fifteen.
Another benefit that O’Malley isn’t used to, though, is being the recipient of pay-per-view points in the future as the champion. This is why he wants to fight Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in his first title defense, as ‘Sugar’ views the fight as bigger than a bout against Merab Dvalishvili, who is ranked number 2 in the bantamweight rankings. Fans like stories, and O’Malley and Chito have history thanks to the controversial way their first fight ended. O’Malley lost after damaging a nerve in his leg following a leg strike from Vera in his only MMA career loss to date.
Whoever Sean O’Malley fights next, expect a lot of hype around the event as the UFC has a new star in town.
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