UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley knew he’d be champion one day and “Sugar” knows that he’ll box eventually as well.
During an appearance on The MMA Hour, O’Malley explained his desire to step from the cage to the ring. Watching former UFC heavyweight titleholder Francis Ngannou take Tyson Fury the distance in boxing proved that mixed martial artists can compete in the sport of boxing for O’Malley.
“I know I’m going to boxing one day, 100 percent,” O’Malley said. “I had that feeling of when I was going to be champ. I’ve really said that when I was 21 or 22 on The Contender’s Series I said, ‘I’m going to be champ.’ I know that. I feel that. I’m going to box someday. I know that. I don’t know who. I don’t know when, but I’m going to box someday. I had hope before, but it just like proves that it’s possible.
O’Malley, 29, is a boxing fan. He’s also likes to strike in MMA. Stepping into the ring seems inevitable, especially being the trend in recent years.
“I love boxing. It’s a sweet sport,” said O’Malley. “I just think it’ll be fun. A boxing camp would be really fun. The buildup would be really fun. It’s just different. I’ve been MMA fighting for so long, boxing would just be a cool little switch up. Boxing is a lot easier on the body, probably harder on the head. Wrestling is probably harder on the body, easier on the head, MMA I guess. I just think it would be really fun. I think it would be cool.”
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O’Malley admittedly doesn’t watch a lot of boxing. He doesn’t find it that exciting for the viewer.
“I don’t watch boxing. I watched Jake [Paul]. I watched Logan [Paul] box. There’s just something – It’s not that interesting to me,” said O’Malley. “It’s not like an exciting, big fight. I don’t know what it is. Even the UFC. I watch big fights. I don’t really tune in for anything that’s not really big.”
“The UFC said, ‘if it makes us money, we’ll do it.’ Like, if it’s big enough, if it’s massive Conor-Floyd. I’m not saying me vs. anyone is Conor-Floyd yet. Someday. I got out there and four or five years, I do my thing like I’ve been doing, I think I could box one of these guys. They said, it just has to take another superstar in the boxing world. Someone will pop up.”
https://www.mmaweekly.com/news/sean-omalley-knows-hell-box-someday