LAS VEGAS – Sean O’Malley won by knockout once again at UFC 269 but he’s not sure what would’ve happened if the fight hit the mat.
In the lead-up to Saturday’s fight, O’Malley (15-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) suffered a rib injury that nearly caused him to withdraw from his main card opener vs. Raulian Paiva (21-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC). Instead, he decided to push through and won the fight with strikes late in Round 1.
“I literally think if he were to have taken me down and I tried to get up, I don’t know what would’ve happened,” O’Malley said at a post-fight news conference. “I didn’t spar for the past three weeks. I was grappling. The guy had a body lock, he had my back, had a body lock. I went to turn. He squeezed at the same time. Nothing crazy, just grappling and I don’t really know what exactly happened. Rib injuries, if you’ve ever had a rib injury, they’re just so annoying. They take a while, but I let it chill for about a week.
“I just ran and hit mitts and then tried to grapple again that next week. I couldn’t do the simplest grappling. For the last three weeks, I didn’t grapple at all. I didn’t even test it. I didn’t even want to. I didn’t want to do any clinch work. I didn’t do anything. I came into this fight, planning on him not being able to touch me and just being confident and trusting the work I’ve put in. I’m really proud of myself for having the mindset to be able to come in here and know that.”
Injured or not, O’Malley found comfort in another victory. He’s happy with his performance and thinks his evolution is continuing on the right track. So what’s next? Well, “The Sugar Show” said he doesn’t even want to think about fighting right now.
“I fought three times last year,” O’Malley said. “I fought three times this year. I feel like every day I have a fight coming up. I feel like I’m just going to enjoy this and try to not book a fight and just enjoy being with my family and my little princess. I’m sure I’ll fight in March (or) April. Who will it be? I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter. As long as ‘The Suga Show’ is fighting, I don’t think people will care too much who I’m fighting.”
UFC 269 took place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
Sean O’Malley details UFC 269 training camp injury: ‘I couldn’t do the simplest grappling’
