Tag: Sean O’Malley

Sean O’Malley: Francis Ngannou Shouldn’t of ‘Sh*t Talked’ Dana White

Sean O'MalleySean O’Malley believes that Francis Ngannou made things worse with the UFC by talking sh*t about his boss, Dana White. Over the past few weeks, the well-documented feud of Francis Ngannou Vs the UFC has been a contentious topic amongst the MMA community. Many believe that ‘The Predator’ is entitled to the contract he is […]

Sean O'Malley

Sean O’Malley believes that Francis Ngannou made things worse with the UFC by talking sh*t about his boss, Dana White.

Over the past few weeks, the well-documented feud of Francis Ngannou Vs the UFC has been a contentious topic amongst the MMA community. Many believe that ‘The Predator’ is entitled to the contract he is asking for and are being supportive as the heavyweight king pursues a fair deal

One UFC star however believes that Ngannou did not do himself any favours in the way he handled the situation. Sean O’Malley shared his views on the situation via his YouTube channel.

“It makes sense that—Dana is running a business, and his heavyweight champion. O’Malley said,  “The one who is the main f—king champ, the baddest dude on planet earth, is just every interview he gets, talking shit.

“And I don’t want to say talking shit in a bad way. I guess he is just talking facts. But it is talking shit, and you can’t do that to the UFC,” he argued. “You can’t do that to Dana. You can’t do that to your boss. You can, but now Ngannou is not in a great position.

“Imagine he’s the heavyweight champion of the world, him and Dana have a great relationship. I bet there’s leeway there to make some negotiations, but now it’s not happening.” (Transcribed by BloodyElbow)

Will Francis Ngannou Fight In the UFC Again?

Following Ngannou’s win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 there had been much debate on the Cameroonian’s future. Although it was Ngannou’s last fight on his contract, his contract was automatically extended because of the ‘champions clause’ in his contract.

This would mean that Ngannou would need to wait out his contact for an additional 12 months until 2023. But this clause coincides with Ngannou actually needing time off as it was revealed that Ngannou had suffered a torn MCL and a damaged ACL in the lead up to his last bout.
This serious of an injury would put Ngannou out for around nine to 10 months, per his manager meaning he would only have a two-month gap left of his contract to wait out until he became a free agent.

It would also give the UFC 10 months to renegotiate but it isn’t clear on if the two parties will be able to come to terms.

Do you agree with Sean O’Malley? Did Ngannou not help himself by bad mouthing the UFC?

(Archives) O’Malley To Ngannou: You Can’t Bash The UFC & Expect No Backlash (2022)

On this day one year ago, Sean O’Malley spoke up about the frigid relationship between Francis Ngannou and the UFC. One of the many major stories to kick off 2023 was the now-former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou parting ways with the p…

On this day one year ago, Sean O’Malley spoke up about the frigid relationship between Francis Ngannou and the UFC. One of the many major stories to kick off 2023 was the now-former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou parting ways with the promotion after a one-year negotiation period. On this day last year, fresh off…

Continue Reading (Archives) O’Malley To Ngannou: You Can’t Bash The UFC & Expect No Backlash (2022) at MMA News.

Sean O’Malley Uninterested In Sparring With Sean Strickland

Sean “Sugar” O’Malley believes a training session with Sean “Tarzan” Strickland is bad for his health.

If you keep up with the fighters on social media, you know that O’Malley and Strickland have some conflict with each other.

Sean Strickland,…

Sean O'Malley and Sean Strickland

Sean “Sugar” O’Malley believes a training session with Sean “Tarzan” Strickland is bad for his health.

If you keep up with the fighters on social media, you know that O’Malley and Strickland have some conflict with each other.

Sean Strickland, noted for his outlandish comments, has not shied away from stating his honest opinions about Sean O’Malley. Last year, the controversial fighter ridiculed O’Malley for his tattoo choices and association with rapper Tekashi 69 via Twitter.

“@SugaSeanMMA woke up one day and said “you know that guy who snitched on all his friends, did something shady with minor, yeah that guy I want him to tattoo his name on me” lol!! You know @SugaSeanMMA walks around holding his pocket lol!!!,” Strickland tweeted in December.

However, it is highly unlikely the two will ever meet in the cage. Sean O’Malley, 14-1-0, fights at bantamweight, and Sean Strickland, 24-3-1, fights in the middleweight division. But a spar between the two could simmer Strickland down.

Let O’Malley tell it, he cannot fathom the intensity of fighters like Strickland. Sparring viciously outside of the Octagon seems like a waste of his time and threatens the longevity of his career. (h/t Pundit Arena).

“I remember him, he was on fucking streak, no one was beating him. He’s been good for a long ass time. It would be a pain in the ass to have him as a sparring partner though. You know you’re just fighting every time.

“I feel like I’ve gotten to a spot where I’m not going to fight dude, I’m not getting into a fistfight with this guy if I’m not getting paid. I’m not doing it. It’s not good for my brain, it’s not good for my body, I only have a certain amount of scraps, and I think everyone does, and I’m not going to waste them in the gym,” Sean O’Malley explained on his podcast.

And who can blame him? Undoubtedly, Strickland has turned a lot of heads with most of his statements and violent sparring sessions. He mentioned he would love to murder someone in the Octagon and soon followed up with his dream to kill outside of the Octagon, as well.

Even Tim Welch, Sean O’Malley’s head coach, commented on Strickland’s chaotic antics:

“There’s something wrong in that dude’s head isn’t there. He’s a fucking freak. You read his Twitter dude, he is not healthy.”

As of right now, “Sugar” O’Malley plans to focus on his career path and well-being and is not concerned about a sparring match with “Tarzan.”

Would you like to see a sparring session between Sean O’Malley and Sean Strickland?

Continue Reading Sean O’Malley Uninterested In Sparring With Sean Strickland at MMA News.

O’Malley: Masvidal Can Piece Up Covington If He Defends The Takedowns

UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley has given his take on the upcoming UFC 272 main event between former title challengers Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal.

After Alexander Volkanovski’s trilogy fight with Max Holloway collapsed and his next defense w…

Sean O'Malley, UFC 272: Covington vs. Masvidal

UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley has given his take on the upcoming UFC 272 main event between former title challengers Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal.

After Alexander Volkanovski’s trilogy fight with Max Holloway collapsed and his next defense was pushed back to UFC 273, the March pay-per-view was left needing a new headliner. What better replacement than one of the most highly-anticipated grudge matches in the UFC right now?

Former friends and teammates Covington and Masvidal will settle their differences inside the Octagon on March 5. While predictions will differ for the contest, one thing that isn’t up for debate is that fans are in store for a heated and entertaining build-up.

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O’Malley Reveals His “Gut Feeling”

Both Covington and Masvidal are coming off losses to reigning welterweight king Kamaru Usman. “Gamebred” fell to back-to-back setbacks against the champion at UFC 251 and 261. “Chaos,” meanwhile, failed in his attempts to reach the 170-pound mountaintop at UFC 245 and UFC 268.

But despite failing to dethrone “The Nigerian Nightmare,” Covington undoubtedly came closer to doing so than Masvidal, who was knocked out cold by Usman last April.

Nevertheless, the Miami native had been in fine form before colliding with Usman, securing finishes against Darren Till, Ben Askren, and Nate Diaz in 2019. Rising bantamweight star O’Malley believes Masvidal could return to that level of form when he enters the Octagon with Covington in March.

“Jorge has never really been taken down and just beaten up for 25 minutes, ever in his career,” O’Malley said on an episode of his YouTube podcast. “If anyone was going to do it, you think it would have been Usman. Usman didn’t go out there, take him down, and maul him. He did knock him out but I don’t know.

“That’s a sick fight. I just get a gut feeling right now that Masvidal could definitely piece up Colby if he shuts down the striking or shuts down the takedowns,” added O’Malley. “Colby brings an insane pace, but Masvidal, that’s going to be such a sick fight. This is the fight I’m most hyped about out of all the big ones.” (h/t Pundit Arena)

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While the fight announcement is still fresh and the clash weeks away, the trash talk and social media exchanges have already begun.

Given Covington’s antics prior to his rematch with Usman, we can expect an even more bitter build-up this time around, especially given the former interim champ’s history with former ATT teammate Masvidal.

How do you see the UFC 272 main event between Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington playing out?

Continue Reading O’Malley: Masvidal Can Piece Up Covington If He Defends The Takedowns at MMA News.

Sterling: The UFC Didn’t Give Me The Same Opportunities As O’Malley Coming Up

Aljamain Sterling is throwing some shade at Sean O’Malley.

Aljamain Sterling is the bantamweight champion. He is the man all the other bantamweights need to beat if they want to be on top. There is, however, one man who is getting under the skin of…

Aljamain Sterling Sean O'Malley

Aljamain Sterling is throwing some shade at Sean O’Malley.

Aljamain Sterling is the bantamweight champion. He is the man all the other bantamweights need to beat if they want to be on top. There is, however, one man who is getting under the skin of the champ, and that man is Sean O’Malley.

Sean O’Malley likes to trash talk. He has begun calling out several different fighters and creating some conflict with many in the division. And recently, he has gained the attention of the champion as well.

Aljamain Sterling is looking at O’Malley as more of an inconvenience at this time than an immediate threat. O’Malley is now in the top 15 of the bantamweight rankings for the first time but has only faced one ranked opponent. That ranked opponent was Chito Vera, and O’Malley did not win that fight. Sterling believes O’Malley wasted that opportunity of fighting Vera when it came around and has since continued fighting handpicked opponents that he never got the chance to face on his way up.

“You had your shot; you blew it,” Sterling told The MMA Hour. “We all get our opportunities. You had an opportunity, and you blew it. So if you wanna say Paiva is the guy that should give everyone more hype around him again, I don’t know, man. The UFC didn’t give me those opportunities to fight tailor-made matchups when I came up. My third UFC fight, I fought a guy who was ranked sixth in the world, Takeya Mizugaki. And ever since then, I have not left the UFC’s top 10 of ranked contenders and guys that were within the top 10 and top 5.”

Sterling has had 15 fights in the UFC so far in his career and had 11 wins before he was granted a title shot, and he seized that moment. Although the fight with Petr Yan ended in a DQ for Yan, causing Sterling to walk away with the belt, Sterling is now champion nonetheless. Even as champion though, Sterling is not on the same level of fan favoritism as O’Malley is.

O’Malley has had eight fights in the UFC with only one loss. He is a character outside the cage and puts on a show inside the cage. O’Malley has been criticized for not fighting ranked opponents on his rise up, but now that he sits at number 12, that should all be changing. If Sterling is unhappy with his fast start in the division, he should be happy now that he is the champ and will have the chance to create his own path going forward, starting with a rematch with Yan later this year.

Do you think Sterling was rushed along his path faster than O’Malley is?

Continue Reading Sterling: The UFC Didn’t Give Me The Same Opportunities As O’Malley Coming Up at MMA News.

O’Malley Understands Why Sterling Took Offense To PPV Comments

Sean O’Malley understands why he recently came under fire from Aljamain Sterling for comments he made about the UFC bantamweight champion’s rematch with Petr Yan not being a main event.

Sterling and Yan were initially set to run it back at UFC 272 …

Sean O'Malley, Aljamain Sterling

Sean O’Malley understands why he recently came under fire from Aljamain Sterling for comments he made about the UFC bantamweight champion’s rematch with Petr Yan not being a main event.

Sterling and Yan were initially set to run it back at UFC 272 in March. But when Max Holloway withdrew from his scheduled trilogy clash with Alexander Volkanovski and the Australian’s next featherweight title defense was pushed back to UFC 273 in April, the bantamweight unification fight went with it.

Responding to news of the re-arranged schedule on a podcast episode, O’Malley said it was surprising that the two titleholders in arguably the most stacked division in the promotion aren’t seen as headline-worthy, a comment that didn’t sit well with the reigning champion.

Sterling was quick to fire back, throwing O’Malley’s ‘not big enough’ claim right back at him. “Funk Master” suggested “Sugar” should fight some top opponents before opening his mouth.

O’Malley Sympathizes With Sterling’s Frustrations

During the latest episode of the YouTube podcast he hosts alongside his brother, O’Malley briefly addressed Sterling’s reaction to his remarks.

The Montana native said he understands why the champ took offense to his words, especially given the way his champion status has been discredited because of the way he won the belt last March.

“When I said I’m surprised that Petr and Aljo can’t main event (on) their own, I was saying that like, I’m genuinely surprised the UFC doesn’t just have them (headline). It’s a main event in the most stacked division in the UFC,” said O’Malley. “And he (Sterling) took that as an offensive comment, which I get. But then he also agreed. He’s like, ‘blah, blah, blah… but he’s right.’

“So I was saying it like, I’m surprised they don’t just main event (UFC 272). They could, 100%. Would it do crazy numbers? No, but they could be its own main event, that’s what I was saying, and he did not like that,” added O’Malley. “He got offended and started going off. But he also agreed. He’s like, ‘Yeah well, they would have to build a big card around (us),’ which means put me on the card. But I get it. It would be frustrating to be the champ and not be respected as the champ, and the way he won; I get it. I like Aljo, he seems like a good dude.”

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While it may not have main event status, the second clash between champion Sterling and interim titleholder Yan is sure to bring heat and fireworks during fight week and fight night.

Given that it’ll have been over a year since their first meeting when they collide at UFC 273, it’ll be interesting to see if Sterling has made the necessary adjustments to match Yan inside the Octagon, something he largely failed to do at UFC 259 despite emerging with the title.

Do you agree with Sean O’Malley? Was it surprising that the UFC didn’t bump Sterling vs. Yan 2 to main event status at UFC 272?

Continue Reading O’Malley Understands Why Sterling Took Offense To PPV Comments at MMA News.