UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is just a few hours away from his first title defense. ‘Sugar’ won the belt emphatically after knocking out Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. He became one of the few alumni from Dana White’s Contender Series that have gone on to win the belt. While there are many things that stand out about O’Malley, his nickname, ‘Sugar’ is chief among them. Every fighter has an interesting story behind their nickname, and it is no different for O’Malley.
In a video posted on ‘Sean O’Malley Clips’, the current bantamweight champion delved deeper into the originals of his nickname. He said,
“Johnny Aho he was like my first head coach. He gave me the name ‘Sugar’. At first it was spider. And I was like ‘Hey coach, I don’t know about that’. So he said alright I will come back with something else. I did not even know there was ‘Spider Silva’. I did not even know that but I was just like that is not it.”
‘Sugar’, as a nickname is common, as well as legendary in the world of boxing. However, in MMA, it is not that common. In the video, O’Malley went on to add that he does not have a preference between ‘Sugar’ and ‘Suga’.
The bantamweight champion also explained that he did not like his initial nickname, ‘Spider’, as he did not feel it suited him. At the time, he was unaware that ‘Spider’ was a nickname that was already being used by one of the biggest names the sport has ever seen in Anderson Silva. However, even as O’Malley got his nickname sorted, the journey to the UFC Bantamweight glory was a tough one.
Sean O’Malley’s journey from ‘Sugar’ to world champion in the UFC
O’Malley started his professional MMA career with a TKO win over Josh Reyes in March 2015. ‘Sugar’ fought a few more times, improving his record to 7-0 before the UFC signed him in 2017. He made his debut on Dana White’s Contender Series in July 2017 with a stunning knockout win over Alfred Khashakyan. Since then, O’ Malley’s stock in the UFC has risen significantly.
View this post on Instagram
The 26-year-old secured an impressive win over Petr Yan at UFC 280, which ultimately gave him a shot at the title. ‘Sugar’ was long regarded as a future world champion. He realised those dreams at UFC 292 with an impressive knockout win against Aljamain Sterling. With the win, he handed his name to an elite few fighters with UFC gold on their resume. On Saturday, he has the chance to add his name to an even more elite list of fighters who have a title defence to their name.
