Former UFC champion Conor McGregor saw some of himself in Sean O’Malley on Saturday.
‘Sugar’ returned to the cage for the first title shot of his career over the weekend at UFC 292. In the main event of the pay-per-view, Sean O’Malley faced longtime bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. ‘Funk Master’ was coming off a win over Henry Cejudo in May, setting a record for title defenses in the division’s history.
However, his title reign came to a stunning end on Saturday night. Sean O’Malley landed a picture-perfect right hand in the opening seconds of round two, earning a TKO win. The victory earned the praise of the MMA world, including Conor McGregor.
‘The Notorious’ praised the win in a since-deleted Twitter video. In the clip, Conor McGregor praised Sean O’Malley for the knockout victory, comparing it to his own win over Jose Aldo. At UFC 194 in December 2015, the Irishman famously scored a 13-second win over the Brazilian.
Nearly a decade later, that moment is seen as when Conor McGregor became a worldwide superstar. It seems that he believes that Sean O’Malley can potentially do the same.
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“Look at O’Malley saying the same thing, ‘I’m going to be as big as Conor’. Then, he goes out and does the exact same f*cking thing I’m doing, to make [himself] as big as Conor,” Conor McGregor stated in a deleted post discussing Sean O’Malley’s win at UFC 292. “You get me? It’s just f*cking madness.”
He continued, “…It’s mad to see to be honest. What way did the f*cking finish go? It was almost identical, in the main event, and, I don’t know. It’s crazy, big respect. I might’ve not read the whole book, but I know a few pages lad. That can’t be denied.”
What do you make of Conor McGregor’s comments? What did you make of Sean O’Malley’s win at UFC 292?
