Sean O’Malley has become one of the biggest superstars on the entire roster with his next fight headlining the first, and perhaps only, UFC card that will ever happen at Sphere in Las Vegas.
Since first arriving from the Contender Series, the always colorful bantamweight champion has drawn a crowd with his appeal growing bigger and bigger with each performance. At a time when Conor McGregor has been out of action for over three years, O’Malley and a few others have become massive attractions, but does that mean the UFC actually roots for him to win?
As much as that narrative gets pushed at times, recently retired UFC veteran Matt Brown doesn’t buy that the organization as a whole wants O’Malley to win and Merab Dvalishvili to lose just because it’s better for the company’s bottom line. Truth be told, Brown knows after spending 16 years with the promotion that no one fighter is bigger than the UFC itself.
“The UFC’s having a record year,” Brown said on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “Whether they’re quietly rooting or actually rooting for someone, I don’t know because they’re having a record year. They don’t need a single person. They’ve got the brand. They’re pretty set. They’re f*cking cool.
“Still setting records. The UFC is a monster f*cking brand. They are an absolute monster. They don’t need any specific star.”
It’s tough to argue with that logic considering the UFC has continued to post record earnings year after year without many of the sport’s biggest stars competing right now.
While O’Malley’s appeal and drawing power are undeniable, Brown argues that if the UFC really wanted to give him the best opportunity to remain champion he would be facing lesser competition rather than a potentially difficult stylistic matchup with somebody like Dvalishvili.
“Ultimately the one thing you’ve got to love and respect about the UFC is you do eat what you kill,” Brown explained. “You might have to do more killing than the other guy but you do get to eat it. Whether they’re quietly rooting or not, I can’t even speculate on that because I just have no real clue.
“If I’m Dana White, I’m quietly rooting for Sean O’Malley, too, but the fact is they put the fight together. If they were really rooting for Sean O’Malley, they wouldn’t have put the fight together.”
Brown says the biggest advantage somebody like O’Malley has with his star power is that he probably got a few more opportunities handed to him. Dvalishvili would almost certainly agree after he had to put together a 10-fight undefeated streak including wins over three former UFC champion to finally earn a title shot while O’Malley only has four fights against ranked opponents in his career.
“It’s very clear Sean has had an easier path,” Brown said. “I think that’s really what you get from having that stardom, but you still have to fight the toughest guys. Merab just had a harder path. That’s the only difference, right? Or Belal [Muhammad], he had a harder path. Leon [Edwards] had a harder path then the vast majority of guys. I think that’s where it really comes into play.”
Even if O’Malley didn’t have to jump over as many hurdles as Dvalishvili to get where he’s at, the self-proclaimed “Suga Show” can’t stay at the top if he’s not winning in his biggest fights.
Brown knows eventually everybody in the UFC has to face a daunting test and so far O’Malley has passed every single one with flying colors.
“We go on all the time talking about how there’s not really ‘deserving’ in this world,” Brown said. “A lot of times funny things happen, different fights get put together that shouldn’t get put together, all these kinds of things but ultimately if you stay on the path, you’re going to come across the f*cking baddest dudes in the f*cking world and that’s all there is to it.”
Of course, Brown also appreciates that Dvalishvili didn’t falter in his quest to become champion even if it’s taking him a lot longer to get there.
In fact, Dvalishvili’s win streak was so impressive that fans pushed for him to finally get his title shot while denying O’Malley’s ultimate wish to move up to 145 pounds to battle for a second UFC title.
“Merab, you’ve got to give him credit, he earned the matchup,” Brown said. “He basically put the UFC in a position where they’re like Merab or bust. After you have a [10-fight] win streak beating the guys he’s beaten, you just can’t deny the guy anymore.”
