Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
While Sean O’Malley is an offensive dynamo inside of the cage the 25-year-old fighter has been left on the defensive following his TKO loss to Marlon Vera at UFC 252 earlier this month.
O’Malley, who injured his foot and leg during his co-main event clash with “Chito,” ended up leaving the Octagon on a stretcher. Considering “Sugar” was pegged as the next big UFC superstar and talked an incredible amount of trash before the fight, he was left to defend his performance and overall UFC potential.
While O’Malley has stomached a barrage of negativity from around the MMA community it has been former UFC fighter Ben Askren who has spoken out the most about “Sugar.” Askren discussed O’Malley’s loss to Vera and his inability to walk out of the cage under his own power, telling the rising contender to “grow up” after getting his “ass kicked.”
O’Malley’s coach ended up firing back at “Funky,” but now “Sugar” is taking the reins and defending his actions at UFC 252.
“I thought Ben Askren was smart,” O’Malley said on “The Timbo and Sugar Show” podcast. “I didn’t know he was slow. You have an opportunity, you (expletive) your foot up. I had an opportunity. Your foot’s (expletive) up, and you have to walk here to there. Or they said, ‘Here, we’ll push you on a little thing with wheels so you don’t have to walk on your (expletive) up foot, make it worse.’ I’m like, ‘God, big Ben – I thought you were smarter. I didn’t know you were stupid.’ It’s just stupid. If you ask the smartest person in the world, you smash their foot and you say, ‘Do you want to walk over there or do you want to be carted?,’ they would take the cart.”
For what it’s worth, O’Malley’s coach said he tried to walk into the back on his own but was told to use the stretcher. Either way, a fighter shouldn’t be ridiculed for utilizing the medical assistance that is placed around the Octagon for this exact reason.
O’Malley did have X-rays done following the fight and everything came back negative, although he’ll be looking to get an MRI soon. The popular UFC fighter also took to Instagram earlier this week to show off his speedy recovery with an awkward dance (check it out below).
“My shits good. Just tripped,” wrote O’Malley.
As of now, O’Malley will need to fully recover before booking his next fight. When that time comes “Sugar” will have his opportunity to prove he’s as tough as he thinks and is ready to make his move up the bantamweight ladder, barring any unforeseen “trips” or leg injuries.