Ranked contenders are usually focused on their march toward the division title, not the online chatter from up-and-coming fighters like Sean O’Malley. Perhaps that’s why no one in the bantamweight Top 10 can be bothered with guest starring on the “Sugar” show.
Even just to collect an “easy paycheck.”
“No one really above me ever calls me out,” O’Malley told ESPN. “Now Adrian Yanez is calling me out, which he should be. That’s what you should be [doing] — you call out the most popular guy in the division, one of the most popular guys in the UFC. Call him out. No one above me calls me out. I don’t know why. I don’t know if [they think] it’s a waste of time, they don’t want to make any easy paycheck. They can say whatever they want but I look at it as they know it’s a tough fight.”
Or maybe they get paid the same regardless of opponent.
If O’Malley is looking to fight someone (else) in the bantamweight Top 10, he’ll first need to defeat No. 9-ranked Pedro Munhoz on the UFC 276 pay-per-view (PPV) main card this Sat. night (July 2, 2022) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Then grab the mic and let ‘er rip.
“Hey pink poodle,” former champion and No. 1-ranked contender Petr Yan wrote on Twitter. “If you win on Saturday and really wanna fight me I dare you to call me out and I will accept it. But if you just wanna make useless noise for hype, stop talking about me, coward.”
Yan (16-3) is coming off a split decision loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 273.
Defeating Munhoz would mark his fourth straight victory and improve O’Malley to 16-1 overall. It would also springboard “Sugar” into the division Top 10, though a jump to the No. 1 spot may be too much, too soon, depending on the promotion’s existing plans.
Expect Munhoz to have something to say about that on July 2.