Chael Sonnen weighs in on Said Nurmagomedov claiming Sean O'Malley ducked him - "A real schoolyard tactic"
Chael Sonnen has weighed in on the latest bantamweight saga between Said Nurmagomedov and Sean O'Malley. Nurmagomedov recently took to Twitter to claim that 'Sugar' ducked him twice.
The Russian fighter also shared a screenshot of an offer made for a fight against O'Malley at UFC 269 in December. However, he went on to claim that nobody could get a hold of the rising 27-year-old star.
In response to Nurmagomedov's claim, Chael Sonnen stated that he doesn't think O'Malley would turn down a fight. He believes the entire situation was created to embarrass 'Sugar'.
Sonnen went on to label it a "schoolyard tactic" designed to possibly lure O'Malley into signing a contract for a potential fight against Nurmagomedov. In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Sonnen said:
"Now, that doesn't sound like Sean O'Malley would turn down a fight and this is what it was designed to do was try to embarrass Sean, which is a real schoolyard tactic. You guys have seen this a million times, you probably even had it done to you, some jerk did it to you and you did it to somebody else. But you saw the effectiveness, it usually got guys a step closer to getting in there so I don't have a problem with that. I don't think Nurmagomedov did anything wrong here."
Check out Chael Sonnen's video below:
Said Nurmagomedov is fresh off a win over Cody Stamann at UFC 270. He is currently four fights deep into his UFC career and has suffered just one loss in the promotion so far.
All of Nurmagomedov's fights, except his sole loss to Raoni Barcelos, have ended in the first round.
Hey @SugaSeanMMA UFC offer you to me 2 times, your chicken ass never responded run. What we’re gonna do now? I wanna kill your hype @bokamotoESPN @KevinI @danawhite @seanshelby
Sean O'Malley secured three big wins in 2021
In 2021, Sean O'Malley secured three big wins in the UFC.
At the last pay-per-view of the year, O'Malley defeated Brazilian Raulian Paiva in the first round. 'Sugar' also picked up notable wins over Kris Moutinho and Thomas Almeida last year.
O'Malley intends to continue his momentum heading into 2022, but it looks like he won't be fighting anytime soon.
In an episode of his YouTube podcast, 'Sugar' claimed he might not be able to step into the octagon until this summer.
"I can’t fight March 5, it’s too soon. I don’t think they’re having a Vegas card in April, in May. I might not fight for a while. If I don’t fight until June or July, it just gives me time to get better and improve. I haven’t been able to train since my fight. I’ve had a fu**ing fractured thumb since my fight."
Check out the full podcast episode below:
It remains to be seen who O'Malley will face upon his return to the octagon. However, it's clear Said Nurmagomedov wants to be the man standing opposite him next.