UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has grand aspirations for his career going into a pivotal 2024 campaign.
O’Malley has been pegged as having superstar potential in the fight game ever since he broke onto the scene with Snoop Dogg screaming his name as he earned a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2017.
His rise to becoming UFC bantamweight king has been steady and solid, and with gold in his possession, he thinks now is the time to elevate things to the next level.
O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) is scheduled to put his belt on the line for the first time March 9 when he meets Marlon Vera (21-8-1 MMA, 15-7 UFC) in a rematch at UFC 299, which takes place at Kaseya Center in Miami.
He has the chance to avenge the only loss on his record, and if he does that, then adds another defense on the back half of the year, he thinks he’s poised to break through into the next tier of notoriety that is currently only occupied by former two-division champ Conor McGregor.
“I would like to get another one in by the end of the year and be the biggest star in sports – not just combat sports,” O’Malley said in an interview with Megan Olivi for ESPN. “I think (if) I go out there and put two beautiful performances together (in 2024), I will be as big as Conor (McGregor). UFC has grown 40, 50 percent since Conor was really in his prime. COVID really boosted the UFC, so I had more opportunities to go out there and be a star. When I say that, people say, ‘Oh, you want to be like Conor.’ He’s the biggest star in combat sports. Of course I want to be like him. When people say that, it sounds a little silly.”
Although O’Malley, 29, doesn’t exist in the same orbit as McGregor in terms of his microphone skills and trash-talking ability, his talent in the octagon can be just as spectacular as the Irishman. O’Malley already has a plethora of impressive knockouts on his record, and if he keeps delivering in that manner, it will only enhance his chance of getting on the radar of mainstream fans.
The story for his next fight is all there, too. O’Malley injured his foot while kicking Vera early in the first round of their initial meeting at UFC 252 in August 2020. It compromised him, and “Chito” took advantage in landing big shots en route to a ground-and-pound TKO finish, but O’Malley has since denied it as a legitimate victory.
O’Malley, No. 1 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie bantamweight rankings, will have the chance to prove that was really the case against No. 6 Vera at UFC 299, and he said it’s the biggest fight UFC can put on at 135 pounds.
“I was whooping his ass,” O’Malley said. “He got lucky. That’s how I’ve felt ever since that fight happened. And I do believe truly, and he’ll never admit it, but he knows how lucky he got that night. But it worked out good. Here we are. I’m defending (my title). I get pay-per-view points. There’s a story behind it. It makes it that much bigger. It’s bigger than anybody else in the division. So the fact that happened August 2020, and I win the belt August 2023, it was three years later, so the fight is the one that makes the most sense. I’m very excited. I’ve never been this excited for a fight. There’s something extra on this one.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.
UFC champ Sean O’Malley aims to finish 2024 as ‘the biggest star in sports – not just combat sports’
