Ahead of his return to the Octagon on September 14, UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley spent some time running routes with the Arizona Cardinals.
After a successful title defense against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in March, O’Malley will put his gold on the line against top-ranked contender Merab Dvalishvili when the promotion heads to Sphere in Las Vegas for a Noche UFC event unlike anything that’s ever been done before.
Before making his way to ‘Sin City’ in a couple of weeks, O’Malley, who is a self-described NFL fan, made his way to the Arizona Cardinals training camp to pose for pictures with star quarterback Kyler Murray and run a few routes.
‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley catches a few passes from Kyler Murray
Adding to the trophy case
@K1 x @SugaSeanMMA pic.twitter.com/c8daI1IQLU
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 29, 2024
OKAYYY @SugaSeanMMA
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 28, 2024
UFC Champion Sugar Sean O’Malley visited Arizona Cardinals training camp today.
Sean O’Malley lives out in Phoenix Arizona.
—
Mr. Az (@MrAzSports)
Will Hernandez gets Suga Sean O’Malley on the ShotSled
— ???????? (@resilite) August 30, 2024
at the Cardinals training facility! 
“It always trips me out when people are huge fans, especially when they’re 6-foot-4 250 pounds, and they’re pumped to meet the Suga show,” O’Malley said of the experience. “But it’s really cool. Overall, it was just an incredible day. These drills are probably the closest I’ll get to being in the NFL, but I’ll take it” (h/t Arizona Cardinals).
He continued, “The Cardinals are my team now. I live 20 minutes from the stadium. I’ve been here for ten years, so this feels like home and I’m excited to get back into it and have a team to root for.”
O’Malley may never get to live out his dream of being a football star, but he’ll have the opportunity to headline one of the most anticipated events in MMA history at UFC 306. That’s a pretty solid consolation prize.
