O’Malley Credits Snoop Dogg For UFC Blowup

Sean O’Malley has become one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts (MMA) today and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight king believes rapper Snoop Dogg has something to do with it.

Snoop Dogg recently made headlines after announcing he’s stepping away from smoking, but his name popped up again this week while O’Malley talked about his rise to UFC stardom. That’s because Snoop Dogg commented O’Malley’s Contender Series debut alongside Uriah Faber all the way back in 2017. That was O’Malley’s first official coming out party and a fight that introduced “Sugar” to the world of MMA.

Luckily, O’Malley happened to win that contest via knockout with about 45 seconds left in the first round. His performance was certainly captivating, which left Snoop Dogg in a frenzy at the commentating desk. The famous rapper proceeded to scream O’Malley’s name a bunch of times, adding even more buzz to his already promising stock.

Earlier this week, O’Malley sat down for an interview with The Breakfast Club and acknowledged that moment helped boost his UFC stardom.

“Oh, huge. Massive, massive,” said O’Malley. “It’s crazy how my career has played out. That was the beginning of the craziness. Snoop Dogg is commentating on my fight when I was 21, 22 on the Contender Series.”

“It’s the first time they’ve done it. I knock that dude out, and he yells ‘O’Malley’ like 30 times. That was crazy.”

Check that moment out below:

What made O’Malley’s Contender Series experience even more memorable is the fact that he got to smoke with Snoop Dogg after the fight. It was a surreal moment for “Sugar,” who is an avid marijuana consumer as well.

“I don’t even remember, I got so high,” he said. “We were in the trailer, and they just kept passing it. I walked out of the trailer, and there were a bunch of cameras. A bunch of people around. I hadn’t smoked, probably for three or four weeks leading up to a fight. I just got a crazy knockout. I just got signed to the UFC. Now I’m smoking with Snoop and when I was leaving the trailer, that felt like a movie. That was crazy. I don’t remember what we talked about at all.”

O’Malley, who has produced a 9-1 (1 NC) UFC record since his time on Contender Series, is coming off a spectacular knockout win over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 to claim the undisputed UFC bantamweight title. It’s easily one of the biggest performances of the year and a win that has left O’Malley even a bigger star for the UFC machine to push.