“It’s Not Fake It’s Real”: Justin Gaethje Reveals Secret Ingredient Behind Sean O’Malley’s Recent Success in the UFC

The UFC Featherweight Champion, Sean O’Malley, has been on a tear recently, with spectacular wins over Petr Yan, Aljamain Sterling, and Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera. In light of O’Malley’s success, Gaethje claimed there is one main factor driving ‘Suga’s performances and it is something Tony Ferguson lacks

Justin Gaethje is just days away from defending his BMF title at the historic UFC 300 event. The champion will take on Max Holloway in a highly-anticipated bout on April 14. Ahead of his fight, ‘The Highlight’ sat down for an interview with ESPN MMA on YouTube and spoke about how important confidence is for a fighter:

“I think confidence is the biggest factor when you’re in there and that’s why I think Sugar Sean O’Malley is performing so well, because he’s so confident. And it’s not fake, it’s real confidence.”

While praising O’Malley for his success, Justin Gaethje also talked about Tony Ferguson, who he believes has lost all confidence. Gathje claimed that ever since he defeated Ferguson, the latter has stopped believing in himself and has failed to win all subsequent fights.

According to the current ‘BMF’ title holder, confidence is paramount to a fighter’s success. He also insisted that while positive outcomes boost confidence, fighters should not lose all belief just because of a major loss.

Interestingly, during the interview, ‘The Highlight’ also got to see his custom shorts for UFC 300 and found them to be perfect.

Justin Gaethje reacts to his USA-themed fight shorts for UFC 300

While Sean O’Malley popularized the trend of wearing customized gear with his pink shorts at UFC 299, several fighters are eager to follow in his footsteps. Surprisingly, the UFC was quick to acknowledge this trend as Venum, the official clothing brand of the promotion, released several custom shorts ahead of UFC 300.

Justin Gaethje asked for USA-themed shorts but in colors much darker than the American flag. ‘The Highlight’ was also excited to see the stars and stripes pattern, as he said,

“The US flag, stars and stripes, darker colours, I like it. I wanted to go full Paul Creed, but this would be perfect.”

 

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Justin Gaethje’s opponent Max Holloway will be rocking the floral, Hawaii-themed shorts for their fight. Meanwhile, other fighters to get custom shorts, include Alex Pereira and Zhang Weili. The shorts are a big hit with fans and are available to order at the UFC Store. However, it will be interesting to see if the UFC continues this tradition or whether it was only for the historic UFC 300 card.