Sean O’Malley had the most remarkable performance of his career against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. He knocked out the ‘Funkmaster’ in the second round of the main event. It didn’t look for a second that it was the first time that ‘Sugar’ was fighting in the main event of UFC. Many fans and experts compared the Irishman’s knockout win with his counterpart Conor McGregor, with O’Malley even addressing it in the post-fight press conference. However, what many fans aren’t aware of is how 4 days before his fight against Sterling, O’Malley revealed how McGregor inspired him to clench the gold.
The new UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley began his UFC career with Dana White’s contender series back in 2017. Since then, ‘Sugar’ has the UFC record of 8-1-1. With a win against Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan, his only loss came against Marlon Vera, where he had injured his leg during the fight.
Conor McGregor had a similar start to his UFC career. ‘The Notorious’ won his first 7 fights with UFC and clenched the UFC featherweight title before his loss against Nate Diaz. He then went on to avenge his loss against Diaz and defeat Eddie Alvarez to become the first UFC double-division champion. Thus, it’s not surprising when ‘Sugar’ revealed that he was inspired by Conor McGregor.
How Conor McGregor inspired Sean O’Malley to win the UFC title
Sean O’Malley sat down for an interview with Megan Olivi ahead of his UFC 292 bantamweight title fight against champion Aljamain Sterling in the main event. During the interview, the UFC bantamweight champion discussed about his childhood, rise to stardom, and how McGregor inspired him.
O’Malley said, “You know Like I said, I think Conor [McGregor] was kind of coming up right then, I fought Contender in 2017. So Conor was already kind of talking… I take a lot from Conor, I learned a ton from Conor, yeah. So, I think listening to Conor talk can be like. And seeing his self-belief made me confident in speaking my belief, instead of… I will be a UFC champion, I will be a superstar… I think it was from my experiences, also I do believe it was from watching Conor. People are like you want to be Conor. I’m like well I want to be as rich as Conor, you know. I would love to do what Conor has done in the sport. So, if that’s what it means then sure. You know, I want to be like Conor.“
It was surreal to watch O’Malley replicate McGregor’s win over Aldo against ‘Funkmaster’. O’Malley also spoke about how in some ways he doesn’t want to be like ‘The Notorious’. ‘Sugar’ wants to pave his own path and create his own legacy, which he has done so far. Talking about the McGregor comparison, O’Malley gave his views on it after the UFC 292 win.
O’Malley addresses McGregor’s comparisons
O’Malley looked happy after his win over Sterling, clenching the UFC bantamweight division title. There were not a lot of people who had given O’Malley a chance to win over, Sterling. This was evident when Dana White asked how many reporters out of the 17 present predicted ‘Sugar’ to win and only one raise their hand. McGregor was also the underdog to defeat Aldo but he overcame the odds. According to a report from The Mirror, ‘Sugar’ addressed his McGregor comparison.
O’Malley said, “Conor is a high-level striker and I’m a high-level striker. When I was in the octagon and Aljo was making his walkout, I’m sure people will find the replays, I was stepping back and throwing that right hand the exact same way it landed.“
The fans really enjoyed O’Malley’s performance inside the Octagon and can’t wait to see him back in action. What’s more, O’Malley had hinted that he would like to fight in the same card as ‘The Notorious’ next. However, with McGregor claiming that he won’t be allowed to make his comeback this year, it seems highly unlikely. Do you want to see McGregor and O’Malley fight on the same card?
