Sean O’Malley has gone from being Conor McGregor’s biggest fan to wanting a fight against ‘The Notorious.’ Here’s how his coach sees it going down.
Sean O’Malley has a big challenge ahead of him in Merab Dvalishvili, who he fights in the main event of UFC 306 at the Sphere. After that, the next title challenger looks like Umar Nurmagomedov, who just beat Cory Sandhagen in Abu Dhabi.
And after that … Conor McGregor?
O’Malley has been throwing pot shots at McGregor over the past few months after “The Notorious” brought up a failed drug test for Ostarine back in 2019. In a new interview with Submission Radio, Sean’s coach Tim Welch discussed how strange it is to see “Suga” feud with Mac.
“I mean, we still respect him,” he said. “But literally, Sean was his number one fan. Before going to the arena, we put on Conor highlights because he’s been in so many high pressure moments. He’s good at staying calm. He’s good at staying present. He’s a good finisher.”
“So yeah, I’ve got respect for him, but it’s definitely a little weird. It is a little weird.”
Even with O’Malley at bantamweight and McGregor at welterweight, Welch sees a fight being made at lightweight.
“The only way it’d be possible is if they fought at 155 pounds,” he said. “And I mean, that’s a scary fight. Conor’s huge and he’s explosive and he’s quick and he’s got good reaction time. But right now Sean is in his prime. His confidence is so high. He switches stances. His fight IQ is so high.”
“So to say that’s a there’s no way we’d win? That fight is stupid. There’s definitely ways we could win it, win that fight. But obviously it’s a dangerous fight. He’s huge.”
First McGregor will have to make it back into the cage and take care of Michael Chandler, who’s been waiting around for two years for his red panty night. O’Malley has Merab in September, then Nurmagomedov.
Could the stars align to make a fight happen? It’s clear that “Suga” wants it, and stranger things have happened when you’re dealing with the biggest names in the sport.