Sean O’Malley can claim a win over a former UFC champion, and now he wants to get closer to making champion money.
In the most talked-about non-title bout of UFC 280, O’Malley eked out a split decision over Petr Yan to shoot up the rankings and boost his already considerable star power. O’Malley said before the fight that a win over Yan could have a similar impact on his career as to when Conor McGregor toppled Jose Aldo, and while he wouldn’t call it a perfect comparison, he assumes he’s due for a raise.
“What’s considered a Conor-Aldo moment?” O’Malley said at Saturday’s post-fight presser. “Do I have to knock someone out in 13 seconds? Because that’s going to be hard to do.
“But as far as blowing up, I don’t know, we’ll have to see the next couple of weeks. I can almost guarantee I’m going to go sit down and renegotiate my contract after that. It could be [that kind of moment].”
The other chatter ahead of O’Malley’s fight revolved around the likelihood of “Sugar” receiving a title shot if he beat Yan. O’Malley has a huge fan base both due to his in-cage skills and his impressive social media presence, so the UFC could see him as the next logical challenger to Aljamain Sterling, who successfully defended his title against T.J. Dillashaw on Saturday.
O’Malley likes the idea, but he doubts that it will be as entertaining a matchup as his duel with Yan.
“What really gets me excited is guys like Petr who are just like—I knew it was going to be a sweet kickboxing match with a little wrestling,” O’Malley said. “Aljo, he’s good everywhere, but he’s mostly a grappler. So it’s an interesting fight.”
As for a timeline for O’Malley’s potential championship opportunity, he will wait to talk that over with UFC officials. For now, he just wants to rest and recover after a brutal back-and-forth fight.
“Like Dana [White] says, it’s hard to make fights right after,” O’Malley said. “I’m sore, I have a headache, I’m tired. I don’t want to fight anyone. I want to go home and see my princess. It’s inevitable. I turn 28 tomorrow, I’m going to be in this sport for a long time. The people want me to be champ, so it’s going to happen sooner than later.”
