Sean O’Malley is back on a win streak, one that could vault him back to the top of the all-time great list at 135 pounds when it’s all said and done.
It’s been two years since O’Malley had UFC gold around his waist, with his bantamweight reign ending at the hands of Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306. An immediate rematch ended with Dvalishvili scoring a dominant submission win over O’Malley, knocking “Suga” out of the title picture for the foreseeable future.
O’Malley has bounced back with consecutive victories over Song Yadong and Aiemann Zahabi, the latter taking place at the massive UFC White House event, and if he can become champion again he’d like to have his seat at the table in GOAT conversations.
“It’s always hard to say who’s the GOAT, who’s this, who’s that?” O’Malley said in a UFC on Paramount+ interview. “Looking back on my career, it’s like Aljamain Sterling was the GOAT until I knocked him out. And now Petr Yan can be considered the GOAT, I beat him. So it’s hard to say. Merab’s up there. Defended the belt three times. It’s hard to say who’s the GOAT.
“After it’s all said and done I’d like to consider myself the GOAT. I think Petr goes out there and beats Merab, I go out there and get a clear, decisive victory over Petr Yan, that’s two huge wins over two of the best, two out of the three. If Petr, Aljo, and Merab are the three GOATS in conversation, and I’ve beat two of them. I do want to get that Merab fight back someday, but it has to make sense timing-wise. It’s hard to say. It’s up for opinion. In my opinion, who’s the bantamweight GOAT? I guess we’ll get to find out Oct. 24 and go from there.”
Oct. 24 is the date Yan and Dvalishvili clash for a third time, with their matchup serving as the co-main event of UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi. O’Malley defeated Yan in a hotly contested fight in 2022, and he knows Yan winning his series over Dvalishvili presents the best chance for him to be booked in a title fight, since Dvalishvili has already beaten O’Malley twice.
The MMA math needs to add up in O’Malley’s favor, and overall he still likes his chances.
“I’m 31,” O’Malley said. “I’ll be 32 in October. Just really trying to maximize my potential. I feel like I did a really good job in my 20s. Not regretting anything in my 20s, I was able to focus, do what I needed to do in my 20s. And I want to do that in my 30s. I want to be able to be as active as possible, as long as the body holds up. I feel like I have a lot more to give back to this game.
“It’s interesting, the come-up, you’re motivated and then you get to a certain spot and then you realize you can really achieve greatness, so I feel like I have a second motivation now is to achieve real greatness and I have such opportunities—If I can get a win over Merab, if I can another win over Petr, if I can get a win over Umar [Nurmagomedov], if I can get a win over Cory [Sandhagen]. There’s so much greatness yet to be achieve that I feel like I still can accomplish, so there’s the motivation for greatness.”
O’Malley is almost nine years deep into his UFC career and overall he’s proud of all that he’s accomplished. His record inside the octagon stands at 12-3 with one no-contest. He’s even prouder when he recalls how far he’s come, and confident there’s still a long way to go.
“Grateful, because you see so many different guys over the last 12 years, in Arizona, training, you see so many different guys come into different gyms, train, most of them don’t get into the UFC,” O’Malley said. “Some get into the UFC, they win a couple of fights and they’re not there anymore. To actually be in this position where I’ve made a lot of money, I became popular, I’ve done it. I’ve done what I set out to do and that was become one of the biggest stars in the UFC.
“I feel like I was on a rocket ship and those two Merab losses kind of plateaued me a little bit. I feel like my ceiling’s so much higher and I feel like it’s almost a second resurgence of what I’m capable of. So, grateful for what I’ve accomplished, but I still just feel like there’s more out there. The UFC is so massive and you can put on beautiful performances, the ceiling’s endless, so I’m excited to continue that journey.”
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I’ll take your word for it.
When you die on WHAT??? oh
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What could you beat a UFC fighter in?
I’m thinking average UFC fighter say 170 pounds. I’m also adding a stipulation that it was to be something physical not a specialized skill (no underwater basket weaving)
I wrestled at a high school and college level but I wouldn’t be able to out wrestle a younger athlete at that level now. I’ve done BJJ and I wouldn’t want to try that either at this point.
I have kids on the basketball team, might try a game of H-O-R-S-E. Could probably also take them in a game of ping pong but that’s not real physical. Anyways, what you got?
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