O’Malley not looking to fight on McGregor cards ever again
Sean O’Malley doesn’t want to share the stage with ‘Notorious’
At December’s UFC 269 Sean O’Malley scooped a Performance of the Night bonus for his first round TKO victory over Raulian Paiva. That fight opened the pay-per-view that evening and set the table for a pair of UFC title fights.
Prior to that contest O’Malley beat Kris Moutinho, also by TKO. That Fight of the Night winning effort came in July, at UFC 264. That card was headlined by Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor and ended in a ghastly leg injury for the Irishman.
O’Malley, who is on a three fight winning streak, is now waiting for his next booking.
He recently spoke to Helen Yee about what’s next for him. During that conversation he revealed that, whoever he fights next, he would prefer it not to happen on a fight card featuring McGregor.
“You know, I would rather fight with less attention on the card,” said O’Malley (ht sportskeeda). “I would rather fight like on a non-Conor card, because no matter what even if I go out there and perform beautifully, and Conor breaks his foot or whatever, all the [media sites], ESPN, Sports Center, everything’s going to pick up Conor...”
This is not the first time O’Malley has discussed his preferences on who, where and when he fights.
The popular bantamweight once revealed he turned down a fight with Frankie Edgar in New York because he didn’t want his pay cheque to be subject to high state taxes. Back then he said he would holdout for a date in Nevada instead.
O’Malley has also spoken about the calibre of opponents he is willing to face. ‘Sugar’ is on record saying he won’t look to fight a highly ranked fighter while on his current pay scale. He went so far as to say what’s the point of fighting Petr Yan when he gets paid the same to fight Louis Smolka (a fighter he was previously booked to face).