Sean O’Malley doesn’t expect to be a Bantamweight forever.
Currently ranked No. 12 in Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) official 135 pound rankings, O’Malley has been nearly perfect in his 17-fight career. Never short on confidence, “Suga” will need it for his next bout against former champion, Petr Yan, at UFC 280 on Oct. 22, 2022, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
While he has no plans of departing his weight class just yet, the Helena, Montana native feels it’s a certainty.
“Eventually,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “I mean, dude, I’m 27 years old. I’m gonna be in the sport probably for 10 more years. I’m probably going to bump up to 145. Especially when my jiu-jitsu is at a level that I’m like f—k with me. I’m very confident in my jiu-jitsu, but once it gets to a point to where I feel like Charles [Oliveira] on the ground, I’ll move up to ‘45 probably.
“I just don’t want to get — people at ‘45 right now are probably a little bit bigger than me,” he continued. “Even now, I go up to ‘45, I could still beat a lot of those turds. The top-top guys I would have trouble with right now, but it’s cause I’m trying to keep my weight down and low enough for 135. I’m walking around 157-158 right now.”
O’Malley’s lone appearance outside the 135 pounds weight class came in his fourth fight in Nov. 2015 where he made his Flyweight debut. Heading into the Yan clash, the Dana White’s Contender Series alum aims for his fourth victory in five outings, coming off a no-contest against Pedro Munhoz in July 2022 (watch highlights).