"Have you seen him out-grappled?" - Chael Sonnen responds to Paddy Pimblett saying Sean O'Malley cannot grapple
Paddy Pimblett, on the back of a stupefying debut in the UFC, trained his aim at Sean O'Malley. The Englishman went on to thoroughly discredit O'Malley's wrestling, grappling and ground game. Chael Sonnen took up arms defending 'Sugar.'
"How did we get to the conclusion that Sean O'Malley can't grapple? Have you seen him out-grappled? Have you been in the room with him? That is a fairly common belief for any great striker who prefers to strike. Now we could have those boys grapple. That's a direction I wasn't planning on going and I could help out with that one," said Chael Sonnen.
In a recent edition of Beyond the Fight, Chael Sonnen tackled the claim that Sean O'Malley cannot grapple. 'The Bad Guy' went on to talk up O'Malley's ability to strike and defend takedowns. Sonnen also offered to set up a grappling contest between Paddy Pimblett and 'Sugar.' However, he was still puzzled about the origins of the claim.
Catch the clip where Chael Sonnen discusses the claim Paddy Pimblett made regarding Sean O'Malley right here:
Chael Sonnen brings up Ciryl Gane in his defense of Sean O'Malley
While detailing the fallacy in the claim made by Pimblett, Sonnen pointed to Ciryl Gane's defense against grappling. He highlighted that 'Bon Gamin' had never been held down to the mat long enough to initiate a grappling contest.
"I'm sure that it is believed by many that Ciryl Gane cannot grapple. It's a fair statement to say, within his professional career, he never has. He's spent zero time on bottom. He's simply never been taken down. But having the ability to defend those takedowns is a level of grappling. You don't ever have to protect yourself on the ground if you can stop a guy from ever getting you there," exclaimed Chael Sonnen.
O'Malley opened up about the popular misconception that shrouds his overall talent. Dismissing the claim as false, O'Malley admitted that he had never been put in a position to show off his skills on the ground.