Imagine winning the UFC title and then feeling like it might have been just a wild dream! That’s exactly what happened to Sean O’Malley after his big victory over Aljamain Sterling. Despite achieving his long-time goal, O’Malley, who’s since given up smoking the greens, was so in awe of the moment that he was certain he was hallucinating.
For a while, he found himself pinching his own arm, trying to shake off the disbelief and truly grasp that he was now a UFC champion. As he prepares to defend his belt for a second time, O’Mallley sat down with influencer Nina Marie Danielle to answer a few questions during fight week.
During their interview, Nina asked O’Malley what the weirdest dream he ever had was. O’Malley simply referred to the Aljo fight!
“Yeah when you get off the weed, you have some crazy vivid dreams. I can’t remember one that stood out, but I remember fight week in Boston. I take naps everyday, especially during fight week. The whole Aljo fight happened, the prep was just perfect. And I kept thinking f**k I am going to wake up from this dream and I never did. So it was real, it was not a dream.”
View this post on Instagram
O’Malley went on to talk about how he had quit smoking a few months before the fight and ever since then he had extremely vivid dreams frequently. Therefore, he felt like his title win over Sterling was one of those dreams.
Fortunately for O’Malley and his fans, it was not the case and he is the currently the reigning defending bantamweight champion of the UFC.
That said, to main that status, he will have to fight his biggest challenge in the octagon yet- a wrestler!
It’s Merab over O’Malley for Khabib
In the UFC, having Khabib Nurmagomedov on your side is often seen as a huge boost. Coach Khabib hardly ever gets it wrong. And with his cousin Umar Nurmagomedov rumored to be next in line for the bantamweight title, the undefeated Dagestani made it a point to talk about the title fight at UFC Noche.
And it comes as no surprise to anybody that the UFC veteran has picked Merab, a relentless wrestler like himself to win over a striker like O’Malley.
Khabib even added a bit of flair to his preference, saying, “I want Merab to win because it would be a cool fight—White Papakha vs. Black Papakha. But if O’Malley wins, it’s White Papakha vs. Pink Papakha.”
For headgear enthusiasts, a papakha is a traditional wool hat worn by Dagestani fighters, with the color symbolizing their victories in the UFC.
